Old fashioned hustle has saved the Bullets from being booted from the NBL playoffs race after a dramatic 98-87 overtime win against the Illawarra Hawks at the Brisbane Convention centre.
Needing a win to stay in touch with fourth-placed Adelaide 36ers, the Bullets threw down an ungainly performance before escaping with a season-saving win.
A pair of clutch free throws from Bullets guard Adam Gibson pushed the game into overtime, then import Lamar Patterson went to work, scoring six of his 24 points in the extra period.
With their offence stuttering, centre Matthew Hodgson produced two monster blocks while Gibson and Mika Vukona dug deep for important defensive plays to adrenalize Brisbane.
"Our two old dogs, the veterans, really stood up," Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis said of Gibson and Vukona.
"They did a hell of a job with our season on the line. Those guys really epitomised that grit and determination.''
Gibson said the topic of hitting game-saving free throws was discussed before the game.
"Drej asked, 'have you ever shot two free throws with the game on the line'?''' Gibson said.
"I was thinking to myself about that. Shooting free throws is just normal routine.
"It's funny how it works. We were talking about it, and it kind of happened.''
Despite the victory, the Bullets are once again on the brink after the 36ers' win against New Zealand earlier in the evening.
With the 36ers on 14 wins, Brisbane (13 wins) can't afford for them to add another victory and they had to win all three of their remaining games to build a watertight argument.
So much was on the line, and yet the offence that was so fluent in the recent series against the Sydney Kings turned clunky in the second quarter.
Jordair Jett punished the disjointed Bullets at both ends as the Hawks took control with a 21-6 run in the build-up to halftime.
Jett finished the game as one of the most influential figures with 16 points, four assists and two blocks.
Hawks coach Rob Beveridge praised his side's fight to reach the playoffs which ended with losses last week in Perth and against the Bullets.
"We just didn't get our stuff together early in the season," he said.
"Back half of the season has been fantastic.
"We've beaten every single team in the league. Obviously there's a lot of disappointment because we lost and reality is we're out.
"Right now, we have to close out the next two games.
"We can't quit, we won't quit."
