The New Zealand Breakers survived a Townsville comeback to return back to winning ways in the NBL by grinding out an 81-74 result in Auckland.
The defending champions weren't headed during the match, but they were made to work for their victory down a nervous home stretch, with their recent inability to close out tight matches fresh in the memory.
They were led by a game-high 24 points from swingman Tom Abercrombie, whose haul included five three-pointers.
After being bloodied from an elbow to the face, Abercrombie also pulled down a late rebound that denied the Crocodiles a vital possession as the clock wound down.
Daryl Corletto contributed 16 points, while Mika Vukona topped the rebound count with 10.
Brian Conklin, Josh Pace and Todd Blanchfield top-scored for the visitors with 14 points each.
But Conklin's haul was well below the 33 he nabbed when the two sides last met a fortnight ago.
The Breakers' victory took their win-loss record to 3-6 and meant they ousted the Crocodiles (2-5) from fifth spot on the table.
Townsville had beaten the Breakers in their two previous meetings this season, both in Queensland.
The home side made the better start on Thursday night and jumped out to a 15-point advantage early in the second quarter, but the Crocodiles, without being at their best, kept snapping away.
With under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Conklin produced a big three-point play from a rebound to reduce the deficit to 68-67.
However, Breakers point guard Kerron Johnson's basket from a neat spin move and then Corletto's third three-pointer of the night gave the Breakers some breathing space.
Townsville refused to go away, but Abercrombie's fifth trey made it a six-point margin with 26 seconds to go and the Breakers did enough to hold on.
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