Basketball Otago may have landed the buzzer-beater it needed to avoid liquidation.
The association ceased trading in October having accumulated a debt of just under $179,000.
A meeting was scheduled for tonight where members would have almost certainly voted to appoint a liquidator.
But in a surprise turnaround, some mysterious backers have emerged, prompting a joint press release from Sport Otago and Basketball New Zealand cancelling tonight's meeting.
The release was light on detail and it is unclear who has come forward. But following a meeting yesterday morning ''with a representative of some Dunedin entities there is a very strong likelihood of Basketball Otago being able to continue'', the release stated.
''As a consequence, the special general meeting [tonight] is cancelled.''
Basketball New Zealand chief executive Iain Potter said he was unable to confirm details other than to say there had been a ''coalescing of support and it is looking rather positive''.
''I was not at the meeting, but a number of people have stepped forward and said they are confident they can pull some money together to make a good enough offer to the creditors,'' Mr Potter said.
''There will be a partial offer in return for settlement. Obviously, there will be a lot more come out in the next couple of days, but I'm pretty thrilled about that.''
The next step is for the board of BBO to reach an agreement with the creditors.
To enable this, BBO chairman Ricky Carr has appointed ''a number of new'' board members and then promptly stepped down.
''With the new board appointed, it is an appropriate time for me to step down from the board,'' Mr Carr said in the press release.
Basketball New Zealand and Sport Otago will work with the new board in establishing sound governance principles and to address the operational priorities that will ensure the ongoing sustainability of grass-roots basketball.
An announcement on the composition of the BBO board would follow, the release stated.
BBO's potential revival is a stunning reversal of fortunes. Its members voted against appointing a liquidator in December to allow the Keep Basketball in Otago group time to raise the $100,000 it was targeting.
Last week, Keep Basketball in Otago spokeswoman Angela Ruske said the group was well short of reaching that target. BBO's future looked bleak. Liquidation was inevitable. Mrs Ruske was pleased by yesterday's surprising news.
''We're very happy with it, but we still want to keep pushing and we still have a day or so left,'' she said.
''We are still working to get more money in, but at this stage we are very delighted.''
