Veteran shooter Chris Goulding has fired a series of clutch three-pointers to pilot NBL ladder leaders Melbourne United to a 97-88 win over New Zealand.
Goulding had a quiet first half but drove daggers into the visitors at John Cain Arena on Sunday when he found range after the main break.
In his 300th game for Melbourne, Goulding delivered his trademark when he twice launched crucial bombs to help his team edge ahead in the dying stages of a tight contest.
Goulding's fade-away from the corner gave United a game-high nine-point lead with three minutes left as he finished with 4-of-5 shooting from distance.
"We can't not talk about CG's couple of threes down the stretch," coach Dean Vickerman told reporters post-game.
"They were pretty incredible."
Jo Lual-Acuil (16 points) and import Ian Clark (18) also came up with big plays in the final period as Melbourne outscored their opponents 33-25 with the game on the line.
Lual-Acuil shone in his second game back from a long-term wrist injury, and Clark's wide-open three restored United's nine-point buffer with 38 seconds left to play.
Such was Goulding's confidence in his teammate, he turned around to celebrate the game-sealing bucket with the home crowd before Clark had even released his shot.
Melbourne had five scorers in double figures in an even team performance in the absence of injured guard Matthew Dellavedova, who has missed two games because of his latest concussion setback.
The result was Melbourne's ninth consecutive home win over New Zealand and gave them a 6-1 record for the season.
The Breakers (1-2) led by six points midway through the third period but ran out of steam in a tough loss that ended a gruelling road trip, which included two exhibition matches against NBA opposition in the United States.
Zylan Cheatham (30 points) and Parker Jackson-Cartwright (18) threatened to drive the Breakers to a rousing victory until the guard fouled out inside the last four minutes.
Former NBA forward Anthony Lamb had 15 points and five rebounds on his NBL debut for New Zealand after signing as a replacement for injured import Justinian Jessup.
But Breakers coach Mody Maor was in no mood to look for positives in his team's performance.
"We have very high standards for how we want to play and this isn't it," Maor said.
"Lack of focus, missing key players, making mistakes on covers.
"I don't care where we flew from, what our schedule is, what happened the day before - I care zero.
"This isn't the level of execution that we expect from ourselves."
Shea Ili (16 points, four assists) was important for Melbourne and Luke Travers finished with 16 points, including 15 in the first half.
