The New Zealand Breakers have breathed life back into their NBL season, holding off a fast finish from the Tasmania JackJumpers for a 97-92 win in Launceston.
The Breakers were in control for much of Thursday night's game at The Silverdome with Anthony Lamb producing a 20-point first half.
They were still up nine with two and-a-half minutes to go when Izayah Le'afa (11 points, five steals) drained a three-pointer, but the JackJumpers have been the masters of late comebacks and almost pulled it off again.
Centre Will Magnay was playing just his second game of the season but came up huge at both ends with dunks and blocked shots to inspire Tasmania to an 8-0 run to close the deficit to one with a minute to go.
However, the Breakers iced the game on the back of a steal at midcourt from Le'afa who went up to lay it in. The crucial five-point win improved their season record to 3-6.
New Zealand coach Mody Maor was delighted with his team's effort.
"We showed character, we showed toughness, we played together and we played well. It's a very big win for us," he said.
"We have a strong locker room with people who care and I'm happy they responded the way they did. But this is just step one. It's not one step that we need to make, there's a lot and we can still be a lot better."
The Breakers were coming off a dispiriting performance in Perth but came out determined to make amends with former NBA forward Lamb leading the charge.
By midway through the second quarter he already had 20 points and the Breakers went to half-time leading 56-47 having made 6-of-10 of their three-point attempts.
Lamb might not have scored in the third quarter, but import point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright took over with 10 points to keep the Breakers 13 in front at three-quarter-time.
New Zealand then held off Tasmania's late surge as Lamb finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
Jackson-Cartwright added 22 points, four rebounds and three assists as the visitors shook off the loss of star guard Will McDowell-White to a knee injury.
Tasmania might have lost their fourth home game in Launceston from six attempts, but the performance of Magnay was especially exciting. He had 20 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
Milton Doyle added 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Jordon Crawford 13 points.
Tasmania coach Scott Roth lamented his team's defence once again, something that was their calling card the last two seasons.
"They just played harder and smarter than us," Roth said.
"There was some really good fight at the end of the game from us and our defence continues to be quite porous.
"It's something that if we don't fix we're not going to go anywhere that the group wants to go."
