The Cairns Taipans have stood tall in the crunch to claw out a gritty 97-91 NBL win over the Brisbane Bullets.
Bullets import Nate Hinton's three-pointer with 1:13 remaining had reduced the Taipans' advantage to 92-91 at the Cairns Convention Centre on Thursday night.
Jack McVeigh, who was enormous down the stretch, then produced two sizzling assists for consecutive three-pointers to Jonah Bolden and Keanu Pinder to see off Brisbane's resistance.
Taipans import Jayon Brown scored 25 points, including 5-of-11 from downtown, before coming off in the last minute after his left contact lens came out.
Malique Lewis added 15 points, while McVeigh scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth term, while also racking up seven assists and four steals.
"There were some unforced turnovers that we did, and Brisbane did something similar," Cairns coach Adam Forde said.
"It was really just who was able to grasp the game.
"There was a lot of composure by the guys."
Hinton notched a career-best 30 for the Bullets, while big Tyrell Harrison paired 23 points with 18 rebounds.
The Taipans missed seven of their first eight shots before waking up with a 10-0 run to forge ahead.
Max Mackinnon's baseline fade-away on the quarter-time bell reduced the Taipans' advantage to 23-17.
Cairns debutant Luke Paul - the league's youngest-ever Next Star at 17 years, 230 days - scoring his first professional bucket with a strong drive and Pinder's athletic coast-to-coast slam were highlights for the Snakes in a second term otherwise dominated by the Bullets.
Harrison and Hinton led a 33-24 Brisbane quarter as the visitors moved ahead 50-47 at halftime.
Brown, who had 21 first-half points, was held scoreless in the third period, but other Taipans stood up as the home side edged back ahead 74-72 at three-quarter time.
The Bullets' rebounding advantage (40-25 overall, 16-5 on the offensive glass) was a big problem for Cairns at the last break.
Brisbane scored the first six points of the fourth stanza, before the Taipans produced the decisive, last fightback, launched by McVeigh with successive treys and a dunk.
"We had enough to win the game, we've just got to be a bit better executing down the stretch," Bullets coach Will Weaver said.
"We're five games into this thing now, and we've built enough for me to not wonder if our guys are going to stay in the fight."
