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Townsville have survived a final-second scare to post a heartstopping 103-101 NBL win over Sydney at the Townsville Entertainment Centre.
Comebacks were the theme of the night with the Spirit recovering from seven points down in the third to eventually lead by seven only to see Townsville take the advantage in the final minutes.
The Townsville faithful hearts sank in the dying seconds when Derrick Low had a chance to steal victory but his three-point effort pulled up short.
A game-high 35 points from Corey Williams set the tone for the home side, Rosell Ellis controlled the boards at both ends with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Russell Hinder hit 20.
Julian Khazzouh and Derrick Low were the Spirit’s main threats, each hitting 18 points while Liam Rush (17) and Drew Williamson (13) provided good support.
Townsville favourite Corey Williams started the game on fire knocking down 16 first quarter points as the Crocs raced to a 3531 lead.
Williams eventually cooled in the second to record 22 first-half points, but it was enough to maintain the upper hand 55-50 while Kazzough’s 15 points kept the Spirit in striking distance.
Staring down the barrel of seven-point deficit early in the third quarter, the Spirit staged a miraculous recovery on the back of a nine-point haul from Clint Reed to see Sydney eventually lead 81-74.
Townsville refused to go away launching their own revival midway through the last quarter to see both sides go punch for punch in the final minutes.
Townsville coach Trevor Gleeson claimed there may have been some divine intervention in the Crocs victory as the franchise celebrated 250 home games at The Swamp.
“That was one of the most bizarre games I have been involved in,” he said.
“We are lucky. We are happy to get out of it. Maybe the old sun’s shined down on us tonight because that was a wide open shot at the end.”
Gleeson was glad his side was able to snap back into gear with the 14-point turnaround in the final quarter.
“We just relaxed a bit. Our work ethic wasn’t there but at the start of the fourth quarter we worked harder on defence.
“We gave up 31 points in the third and you can’t do that.”
Sydney coach Rob Beveridge believed his side gifted the Crocs victory with a poor defensive effort.
“That was a real tough loss for us. I didn’t think that they outplayed us at all,” he said.
“We made some real bad fouls. They probably would of gone to the foul line 10 times through us fouling. They didn’t even get the ball into offence.
“I am really disappointed in our ability and the discipline to stop fouling. I think we handed it to them on a platter.”
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