New Zealand Breakers entrenched their position at the top of the Australian National Basketball League with an extra-time 98-91 win over Wollongong Hawks in Auckland.
The league-leading Breakers were slow to fire, struggling with their long-range accuracy and initially having little luck close in.
Wollongong, with three wins from 15 starts, sit ninth and last on the ladder, but had shown impressive form in recent weeks to push fourth-placed Melbourne United, No.3 Cairns Taipans and second-ranked Perth Wildcats.
The Hawks led 17-12 at the first break, edging out to a 39-33 lead at half-time before the Breakers finally began to find some cohesion on their drive to the basket.
A Tom Abercrombie three-pointer kickstarted their comeback third quarter, and they went on a 12-2 scoring streak to open out a four-point lead three minutes into the spell.
But the Hawks battled back, matching the Breakers' up-tempo game, and regained the lead at 48-45 on a Garry Ervin trey.
The two teams matched each other right through to the three-quarter break, a Corey Webster jump shot tying the scores 60-60 at the start of the last spell.
Wollongong's long-range shots continued to drop, Tim Coenraad and Jahii Carson also chipping in from the deep as the Hawks edged out to a four-point lead with five minutes remaining.
The two teams swapped fouls and free throws in the final seconds, the Hawks trailing 79-82 before a Rhys Martin three-pointer on the buzzer sent the game into extra time.
The two teams matched each other early on, but Abercrombie sunk another trey to set the Breakers on a 10-0 streak to wrap up the game.
Cedric Jackson topped the scoring for the home team, sinking 18 and picking up seven rebounds, six steals and nine assists in a match-winning performance.
For the Hawks, Ervin and Martin each finished on 21, with back-up from Carson on 17.
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