The Tauranga City Mariners got hot when it mattered most to pip the Turanga Health Rising Suns in a thrilling semifinal shoot-out at QEYC on Saturday.
What looked like a comfortable win, after a third quarter surge, wound up being anything but - the visitors catching fire for 32 points in the final frame to turn an 11 point deficit into a single possession game with a minute remaining.
The Mariners live and die on the outside shot as a matter of principle, and had just enough bullets in the chamber to get the job done against a team that rode real momentum in the final moments.
Ashton McQueen (37), Jayden Bezzant (23) and Eru Wills (20) all drained clutch triples, breaking the back of what was a spirited late comeback.
Wills' performance was not as eye catching as those of the terrific back-court duo of Bezzant and McQueen, whose pressuring of the Rising Suns ballhandlers likely proved the difference, but in the decisive moments the fans were never calmer than when the ball was in his hands.