The New Zealand Breakers maintained their momentum at the top of the Australian National Basketball League last night with 80-76 over a gutsy Wollongong Hawks side in Auckland.
The Breakers were never headed as they took their record to 15-3 and remained unbeaten in 2011, having won all five of their outings of the New Year so far.
However, the Hawks ensured the home side never got into the comfort zone as they repeatedly stayed in touch on the scoreboard.
But their efforts at the North Shore Event Centre couldn't stave off an eighth consecutive defeat.
They had gone in short-handed, with forward Glen Saville missing his sixth game in a row because of a knee injury.
But import Gary Ervin and Larry Davidson did take the court after having been troubled by groin and ankle issues respectively in the lead-up to the match.
Both made light of their woes to produce significant contributions.
Ervin, the league's leading scorer with an average of 22 points a game, chimed in with 21 points, while Davidson got 13 points and 10 rebounds.
For the Breakers, the result avenged the only loss they have suffered on this side of the Tasman this season, when the Hawks ran out 73-57 winners in mid-November.
Star guard Kirk Penney, who was restricted to nine points in the 77-74 victory in Cairns last Sunday, looked more like his usual self as he top-scored with 22 points.
Gary Wilkinson contributed 13 points, while Mika Vukona was superb under the boards, pulling off a game-high 16 rebounds to go with his 11 points.
The Breakers got an early jump in a flat first quarter in which the Hawks failed to land a field goal until 1min 30sec from the first break.
Before Tim Coenraad sank a three-pointer to cut the margin to 18-13, all of the visitors' points had come from the free-throw line as the Breakers got offside with the officials.
Two further long-range efforts from Ervin and Coenraad cut the deficit to just two points before the Breakers finished the period 23-19 in front.
Both sides came out with greater intensity in the second quarter, but the Hawks did a good job of slowing the ball down when on defence.
Twice in the quarter they tied the scores, but the Breakers continued to do enough to stay ahead, going into halftime up 46-43.
The contest stayed tight with just five points separating the sides at three-quarter time.
An unsportsmanlike call on Davidson after a collision with Wilkinson in the fourth quarter carried the hint of a possible turning point.
Wilkinson made no mistake with the subsequent two free throws to take the score to 72-67 with 3min 38sec to go.
When shortly after he landed two more points from the stripe to increase the margin to seven points, it look like the Breakers had some breathing space.
But the Hawks continued to fight back the ensure their opponents couldn't relax until the final hooter.
The Breakers now have an eight-day break before hosting the Melbourne Tigers on February 11.
