He played two brilliant shots to put New Zealand within a whisker of an upset win against the United States.
He forced the extra end with his first and drew the shot against the odds on the extra end at the world senior curling championships at the Dunedin Ice Stadium yesterday.
But US skip Paul Pustovar played a perfectly weighted shot to push up one of his own stones to give his team a narrow 8-7 win.
It was a remarkable recovery by the New Zealand team of Becker, Richard Morgan, Nelson Ede and David Greer, because the US is the only unbeaten team in the men's Red Group after four rounds.
Sweden and Finland have three wins each.
Canada won the Blue group, and the other qualifier for the semifinals was Scotland with four wins.
The US combination of Pustovar, Brian Simonson, Tom Harms and Don Mohawk has been the form team in the Red Group and is expected to reach the semifinal today.
Sweden and Switzerland will fight out the second spot.
New Zealand's form has been disappointing and the team was heading for its third loss when the US led 7-4 after seven of the eight ends.
Before Becker played his last stone on the eighth end, the US had the shot, but New Zealand had the second and third shots.
Becker (59), a Kyeburn sheep farmer, showed he has a big-match temperament by playing a miracle stone under pressure.
It was on the right side of the circle and came back in to his own stone, pushing the US shot stone out of the house for three shots.
The US had two stones in the house when Becker played his first stone on the extra end.
It split open the guards and opened up a gap that Becker exploited with his next stone.
The delicately weighted shot sneaked through a narrow gap to push back a US stone and become the shot.
Becker was disappointed with the outcome, but the team members were proud of their skip for getting them so close to an upset win.
Canada won the women's round-robin competition with seven wins and was followed by Switzerland (five wins), Scotland and Sweden (four).
Switzerland moved into second spot by beating Japan 7-3 and trouncing the US 12-1.
Switzerland took control by scoring six shots from the second to the fourth ends to lead Japan 6-1.
The second end was crucial, and Swiss skip Renate Nedkoff played with precision to take out the two Japanese stones to give her team three shots.
Japanese coach Terri Johnston lamented the lost opportunities.
"We set them up to take us out," she said. "Our guards were too close to the house and easy to take out."
Results.-Men, round 4: Sweden 6, Finland 4; Switzerland 6, Italy 2; US 8, New Zealand 7 (extra end). Round 5: Canada 8, Japan 2; Scotland 9, Hungary 2; Australia 8, England 5.
Women, round 6: Canada 9, Scotland 3; Sweden 7, New Zealand 3; Switzerland 7, Japan 3; US 7, Italy 3. Round 7: Canada 7, Sweden 4; Switzerland 12, US 1; Scotland 6, New Zealand 4; Japan 11, Italy 1.
