If felt like a trip to the dentist for Tasmania coach Scott Roth but he walked away thankful - particularly for Milton Doyle's heroics - after an 84-79 overtime win against the Perth Wildcats.
Doyle's three-point buzzer-beater sent Sunday's physical grind to an extra period, where Majok Deng landed the JackJumpers' go-ahead triple with 25 seconds left to play.
The reigning champions held on during the desperate final stages in front of a raucous MyState Bank Arena crowd, squaring their season ledger at 2-2 after a difficult start.
"You just count your blessings and kind of move on," Roth said.
"It was a really tough battle throughout the game.
"It was physical and tough and these guys hung around long enough to make enough plays.
"It didn't look pretty at times and it looked like it was going to get away from us when we couldn't finish the last minute of the fourth (period).
"But give them credit, they were as competitive and tough-minded as anything else ... it was a really good, resilient, grinding effort by our guys."
Doyle (20 points) top-scored for Tasmania, with Deng and Jordon Crawford (16 each) important in digging their side out of big holes.
The JackJumpers trailed 23-9 at quarter-time - when Perth's Bryce Cotton had tallied as many points as the entire home team - and were down by 12 points in the third period.
A hot 16-2 run at the start of the fourth term put Tasmania in front for the first time with five minutes remaining in regulation, and they looked likely winners with a 65-60 advantage with 53 seconds left.
Elijah Pepper's three-pointer looked to have won it for the Wildcats with less than six seconds left, but Doyle's late three-pointer levelled the scores 71-71 and sent it to overtime.
"We were having a heck of a time trying to score the basketball this year and at some point it was like 23-33 or something and it was like going to the dentist and not getting novocaine to get your fillings put in," Roth said.
"It was hard to watch, but they just stuck with it and our defence, which we pride ourselves on, allowed them to stay within striking distance throughout the game."
Tasmania centre Will Magnay posted an influential double-double (13 points, 13 rebounds) despite battling illness, after escaping suspension for unduly rough play in Friday's 90-78 road loss to Cairns.
Cotton had a game-high 24 points for the Wildcats, with Kristian Doolittle (14 points, 14 rebounds) and Keanu Pinder (seven, 14) also threatening to drag the visitors over the line.
Perth coach John Rillie took heart from his team's effort in response to Friday night's 97-68 home thrashing to Melbourne United.
"I'm very proud and happy with the way we competed tonight," Rillie said.
"It was a different looking team to what showed up on Friday night.
"If we find that level of consistency, the results will start taking care of themselves."
