Tyler Harvey's miracle last-second bomb from almost midcourt has seen the Illawarra Hawks snap an 11-game losing streak with a pulsating 78-76 NBL win over the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland.
Tom Abercrombie's steal and dunk with 10 seconds remaining on Thursday gave the fast-finishing Breakers their first lead since early in the opening term, before Harvey (25 points) replied with his massive, matchwinning dagger with 1.3 seconds on the clock.
Harvey's sixth three-pointer - from the midcourt logo - sealed Illawarra's first road victory of the season and ended their 45-day winless drought.
"I'm at a loss for words," Harvey said.
"It's been a battle for us.
"We all wanted that win so bad.
"We just tried to compete and give ourselves the best chance to win.
"That shot went in but it's all the work that led up to that shot that gave us that opportunity."
Big Dererk Pardon (19 points, 17 rebounds) was massive for the Breakers, whose fourth successive defeat - ahead of a tough task against the ladder-leading Kings in Sydney on Sunday - sees their finals prospects suddenly looking shaky.
They were left to rue a poor start as the Hawks rode an early 15-0 burst to a 27-14 quarter-time cushion, Mangok Mathiang pouring in eight unanswered points in two minutes off the bench during that run.
Illawarra went cold in the second term, missing 12 consecutive shots as Pardon's lion-hearted offensive rebounding helped reduce the deficit to four points at halftime.
An upgraded unsportsmanlike foul on Abercrombie saw the visitors finish the third period with a pair of Davo Hickey free throws and a Mathiang dunk.
The Hawks' advantage swelled to 10 points after Harvey produced back-to-back triples and a floater but NZ raced to the finish line.
Abercrombie's steal and slam capped a 13-2 spree, before Harvey had the final say from 30 feet.
