American Import Levi Randolph was the hero for the NZ Breakers as he fired in a last-second basket to clinch a tense 86-84 victory over the Perth Wildcats at Silverdome Arena in Tasmania.
With time winding down, Randolph stormed into the key after receiving an inbound pass from Tai Webster, before firing in an off-balance contested shot that got nothing but net with 0.5 seconds to play to send the Breakers bench crazy.
The Breakers welcomed back star guard Tai Webster from injury but it also forced them to say goodbye to Australian Jarred Weeks who was squeezed out by the guard's return.
The Kiwi club knows they need to be near-perfect from their final 10-games if they are to storm into the playoffs for the first time since the 2017/18 season.
It was neck-and-neck basketball throughout the four-quarters with neither side able to establish a sizeable lead.
It all came down to the final quarter with Tai and Corey Webster key down the stretch. Corey blocked a Bryce Cotton shot while Tai laid the ball up to tie the scores in the final seconds.
Up-step Randolph who fired in the match-winning shot with 0.5 seconds to play to hand the Breakers their ninth victory of the season.
Perth had a catch and shoot opportunity to steal the result at the death, but Cotton's three-pointer rimmed out to the relief of Breakers fans.
The Kiwi club where lead by Randolph's 19 points while Tom Abercrombie - who celebrated his 500th ANBL three-pointer during the contest - chipped in with 14 points and Tai Webster had a key 12 points from the bench.
Perth was solid all night as they were lead by John Mooney (game high 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists) and Todd Blanchfield (21 points, four rebounds and four assists) but they couldn't get the job done as they suffered defeat against the Breakers for the second time in as many weeks.
The rebuilt Breakers are full of form and will be heading home to finish out the season, with this victory meaning they remain a mathematical chance of storming into the finals.
NZ Breakers 86 (Randolph 19, Abercrombie 14, T Webster 12) bt Perth Wildcats 84 (Mooney 25, Blanchfield 21, Cotton 19)
