Unheralded bench forward Rob Loe poured in a career-high 24 points to lead the New Zealand Breakers to a tense comeback win over the Sydney Kings.
The Breakers trailed by 10 in the third quarter before fighting back to lead by two heading into the final period of Thursday night's Round 11 clash in Sydney.
The visitors looked in control when they led by nine with three minutes remaining, but the Kings made one last charge to pull within a single point with 7.3 seconds to play.
New Zealand import Edgar Sosa (21 points) calmly drained a pair of free throws to seal his team's 11th win of the season, ensuring they kept hold of second spot heading into Christmas.
The last-placed Kings effectively bowed out of finals contention with their 13th loss.
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"Some of the breaks we're not getting right now and maybe we're a victim of our circumstances," Sydney coach Andrew Gaze said.
"When you're not winning, others may assume you're not good enough, so we have to be better and overcome that."
Sydney face the improbable prospect of winning all of their final 11 games to clinch a final four finish.
Top-scorers for the home team were imports Jeremy Tyler (23) and Jerome Randle (20), while Brad Newley (15) also worked hard.
The lead changed hands 11 times in a see-sawing opening period, with Jason Cadee's free throws putting Sydney ahead 25-24 at quarter-time.
Tyler grabbed the baton from Cadee midway through the second period, scoring eight straight points to give the Kings an 11-point buffer.
But despite making just 38 per cent of their shots in the half compared to Sydney's 54, the Breakers fought back to trail 48-43 at halftime.
The Kings pushed the margin back up to 10, only for the visitors to respond with 10 unanswered points.
Sosa scored eight in the period and the Breakers made five of eight three-point shots to take a 71-69 lead into the final period.
"We dug ourselves a hole a few times, but the maturity of our group and impact our bench was able to have was really big for us," Breakers coach Paul Henare said.
The Kings play the Bullets in Brisbane on Saturday night, while the Breakers have a week to prepare for next Thursday's away game against Adelaide.
