KEY POINTS:
South Dragons completed their remarkable last to first Australian National Basketball League turnaround by clinching the minor premiership with a 93-83 win over closest challengers and defending champions Melbourne Tigers on Sunday.
The victory at Hisense Arena lifted South to 21-8, two wins clear of the Tigers (19-9).
Even if Melbourne win their last two games in this week's final round, they can not pip the Dragons, who have the split over the reigning title holders, who they have defeated three times in four clashes this season.
It completed an astonishing 12-month revival by the Dragons, who finished bottom with only five victories in the 2007-08 campaign.
Dragons import Donta Smith top-scored with 21, while four of his teammates contributed 11 each.
Melbourne led by two at halftime but trailed by four heading into the last period.
Centre Chris Anstey contributed 23 points and 11 rebounds to the Tigers' cause.
The Tigers' draw means they will have a major say in determining the order immediately beneath the top two.
While Townsville (17-12), New Zealand (16-12), Perth (16-13) and Adelaide (15-14) are all assured of a play-off position, the final order is still up in the air.
The Tigers host the Crocs on Wednesday and travel to Perth to play the Wildcats on Saturday.
The Breakers host Cairns (11-17) on Thursday and travel to Sydney (11-18) for their final regular season fixture on Saturday.
The alarming slump of early season pacesetters New Zealand continued as their losing streak stretched to five.
They crashed 103-98 away to Wollongong (10-18) 91-102 to Adelaide, relinquishing third spot to Townsville.
Townsville's veteran guard John Rillie is heating up at the right time, torching the Dragons for 28 points, including six three-pointers.
"John was very aggressive, he likes playing against the top teams in this league and that probably brings the best out of him, and the last three, four games have been John's best performances for the year," Townsville coach Trevor Gleeson said.
"We could finish third, fourth or fifth, we can't finish sixth any more so we're looking for that home final."
New Zealand coach Andrej Lemanis remained upbeat despite the slumping Breakers' latest losses to the Hawks and 36ers.
"At times I thought, particularly in the Adelaide game, there were signs in that second half that we started some of our rhythm again, which is pleasing," Lemanis said.
"I think we are in one of those spots right now where we just need a couple of things to go our way."
Star scorer Kirk Penney missed the road trip with a nose infection, but Lemanis expected him to be fit for this week's games after receiving antibiotics.
Perth rebounded from their loss to the Dragons with a 106-88 home win over Sydney.
It was the Spirit's seventh straight loss and followed an 89-81 home defeat to Cairns earlier in the round.
Cairns suffered a 93-88 home loss to last-placed Gold Coast (7-22).
- AAP
