KEY POINTS:
A chance to seize the outright lead in the Australian National Basketball League passed the New Zealand Breakers by in a tense 112-115 overtime loss to South Dragons in Melbourne tonight.
A three-pointer to Dragons guard Rhys Carter with 16 seconds left decided a thrilling top-of-the-table matchup which was tied 100-100 at the end of normal time.
Star Breakers guard CJ Bruton had earlier levelled the scores 112-112 with 34 seconds left in the extra period to raise the prospect of double overtime before Carter delighted the home crowd at Melbourne's Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Breakers guard Kirk Penney again led his team's scoring with 32 points, including a desperate five-point run to tie the scores in the final 90 seconds of overtime.
Earlier he had the chance to make the game safe with 17 seconds remaining in normal time but he missed both his freethrow attempts, and Carter hit one from two at the other end to tie it up. Oscar Forman's three-point attempt then missed and the deadlock remained.
Forward Tony Ronaldson chimed in with 23 points while Forman was a key figure with 20 points, including six of nine three-point attempts, and two crucial rebounds late in the match.
The Dragons' international forward Mark Worthington led his team's scoring with 27 points while cool-headed Carter was the star with 25.
It saw the Dragons increase their lead on the points table with an 18-6 record while the Breakers remained a clear second (15-7) after a third straight defeat.
Both sides were coming off back-to-back losses, with sole leadership of the ANBL up for grabs.
The Breakers needed to recover quickly after a confidence-sapping road trip last weekend when they lost 94-111 to Wollongong Hawks and 85-86 to Sydney Spirit.
They welcomed back Bruton from an ankle injury which ruled him out of last weekend's matches, and quickly roared into action to build an 18-4 lead inside six minutes.
Forman's radar was on song and he drained four three-pointers from five attempts in the first half.
While the Breakers' shooting clearly outshone the hosts' early on, their ball control wasn't as sharp and a rash of 13 turnovers in the first half kept the Dragons in it.
The visitors' lead evaporated to 27-25 at the first break and, while they led by as much as nine points midway through the second quarter, it was only five at halftime.
The Breakers kept their noses in front and maintained a five-point advantage, 79-74 heading into the final quarter as the lead seesawed down the stretch.
- NZPA
