After stumbling through the first three quarters to trail 51-49 with a quarter to play, the Tall Blacks closed the match out with a decisive 22-4 run in the final four minutes of the match.
Tall Black swingman Thomas Abercrombie led all scorers with 25 points on seven of 10 shooting from the field. He also connected on nine of his 10 free-throw attempts.
The win means the Tall Blacks are two from two in the competition, and a win against China in their final game tonight will ensure them a spot in tomorrow's final.
Despite pulling away and getting the win in impressive fashion down the stretch, coach Paul Henare was disappointed with aspects of the match.
''We were disappointing in the first three quarters of the match,'' he said.
''Too many turnovers [25], too anxious in possession and not executing our plays. When we stuck to the play book and trusted our systems, we were fine. But too often we went off on a tangent and allowed Mexico too much latitude, and they are a very good team that doesn't need our help.''
While Abercrombie played arguably his best game in a black singlet, he received good support from guard Corey Webster (15 points) and Isaac Fotu (eight points and seven rebounds).
Captain Mika Vukona returned to the side after sitting out the the 72-65 win against Venezuela and singled out Abercrombie's spectacular dunk late in the match, which gave the Tall Blacks a five-point lead with just over a minute remaining.
''Any time anybody can make a play like that the energy will flow through the team,'' he said.
''It was an amazing play and at the end of the day the only player who can do that is Tom Abercrombie. It was awesome to see that.''
The Tall Blacks are using the Stankovic Cup to prepare for the Oceania Series against Australia starting next weekend in Melbourne.
The winner of the two-match series will qualify for next year's Olympics, while the loser will have to go through another qualifying tournament to earn a spot in Rio de Janeiro.
Japan proved to be too good for the Tall Ferns in the first match of their three-match series in Christchurch yesterday.
Japan, which went into the match on the back of a shock win against Australia across the ditch last week, won the match 75-58.
With the scores locked at 17-17 after the opening quarter, Japan pulled away in the second and third quarters, outscoring the Kiwis 46-27.
Kalani Purcell scored a game-high 17 points to help the Tall Ferns hang tough in the final quarter, but it was not enough for her side to win the opening match of the first home series in New Zealand outside of the Oceania Championships since 2006.
Game two is in Christchurch tomorrow night.
