The National Basketball League finals will feature the best two teams in the round-robin competition after the Waikato Pistons' 85-80 win over Auckland on Friday night.
American guard Brian Wethers scored a game-high 26 points and point guard Jason Crowe drained the biggest shot of the game with 34.7 seconds remaining as the Pistons, who finished second in the regular season, out-lasted the Stars. They will play in the best-of-three finals series against top finishers Wellington Saints next week.
Wethers, who has been troubled by a back injury in the last few weeks, shot 8-of-14 from the field, including three triples, and added eight rebounds and three steals, while Mike Homik produced his best offensive night of the season with 13 points and Pero Cameron had 11 points.
Crowe, who ran the Pistons offence patiently after getting into foul trouble in the second quarter, scored nine points, along with Ben Hill and Puke Lenden.
Crowe got his first points on a three over Dylan Perfect-Tait at the 4min 47sec mark of the third quarter, then hit another as the Pistons took a 63-60 lead with 2min 04sec left.
Trailing by seven points, Stars import guard George Baker, who finished with 20 points, hit a three to close the gap, then provided the assist for an Adrian Majstrovich fast-break lay-in to get the beleaguered Stars to 82-80 with 1min 31sec remaining. However, they went scoreless on their last four possessions.
Majstrovich posted 26 points and 11 rebounds, Casey Frank finished with 21 points and seven boards and Baker added six assists. Dillon Boucher pulled down 12 rebounds.
Crucial numbers for the Pistons in a game that featured 14 lead changes and 10 ties included holding the Stars No 1 ranked bench to only five points and forcing Auckland into 17 turnovers.
In a first half where neither team leading by more than six points, it was all about Frank and Wethers.
Tall Black Frank scored 19 points in the first half, getting his all-round game going with two treys and points around the basket, while Wethers, who was still suffering from a back injury, had 17 points and five boards.
Waikato put together a 10-3 run to finish the second quarter to lead 44-40, with a Wethers three attempt at the buzzer being waved off by referee Tim Brown
