Basketball On The Internet.

THE NBL last night threw up two exciting results with a major point of difference - Melbourne beat New Zealand 82-81 in regulation but Illawarra required two overtimes to stall Tasmania 108-107, two one-point thrillers where, unfortunately, some of the officiating was not commensurate with the level of play.

But then in all fairness, the level of play for much of the Illawarra-Tasmania game was not all that flash, not until an amazing final few minutes of regulation and two dramatic sets of five-minute overtime extensions.

It was enough to brings fans to their feet, just as it did in TSB Stadium in Taranaki, though sadly for different reasons.

In NZ, the debate was whether Matthew Dellavedova (14-point, 10-assist double-double), when fouled late by Will McDowell-White, was in the act of shooting or still gathering the ball.

The score was tied at 81-81 and the Breakers fouling to draw into bonus. If you're a United fan, you know and for completely sure that Delly was already moving up into his shot when WMW fouled him.

If you're in the Breakers' camp, you know with absolute certainty Dellavedova was still gathering the ball when fouled and it should have been side ball with four seconds left.

Instead, Delly was awarded two free throws and made the first to create the 82-81 lead. He missed the second, NZ import Zylan Cheatham snared the defensive board - his 10th rebound of the game - then held the ball and indicated to the refs he was calling an "on the floor" time-out.

Except this is the NBL, not the NBA. And the NBL plays its games under FIBA rules. That means time-outs can only be called by coaches, you know, in the traditional way.

So all Cheatham achieved was to run out the precious little time left on the clock. It pays to know the rules of the competition in which you are playing. (By the way, Chris Webber says "Hi".)   

MELBOURNE UNITED 82 (Goulding 24, Dellavedova 14, Travers 13, Hukporti 12; Travers 11 rebs; Dellavedova 10 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 81 (Lamb 22, Jackson-Cartwright 21, Mathiang 13, Rubstavicius, Cheatham 11; Cheatham 10 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 5 assts) at TSB Stadium. Crowd: 2,347

INSIDE the last three minutes of regulation in Hobart, Gary Clark (25 points, 15 rebounds) pushed Illawarra ahead 79-67 and Tasmania, with Milton Doyle strugggling from the field, looked absolutely cooked. 

But while the Hawks were preparing to celebrate and figuratively putting the cue in the rack, the Ants started running rampant.

Maybe the Hawks shouldn't have unwrapped those egg-lettuce-and-mayo sandwiches because you know what JackJumpers are like when they get the sniff of a picnic. It's bedlam.

Suddenly Jordon Crawford cut the margin to 10 with a Jackie jumper. then JackieJ McVeigh made it an eight-point deficit at 71-79, a tad over two minutes remaining.

Tassie created two stops, a Justin Robinson miss and a Todd Blanchfield turnover, but only added a Sean MacDonald free throw before Clark's basket made it 81-72 to Illawarra, 80 seconds to go.

McVeigh's quick response made it 74-81, Clark's free throw 82-74, just 46 seconds to play. Enough time for another 16 points to be scored? Surely not.

Um...

Crawford's three made it 77-82, a Clark turnover opened the door and McVeigh's triple had it to 80-82.

Robinson's free throws put the score at 84-80, 20 seconds left. Time enough for Doyle to ice a 3-pointer and 83-84.

Tyler Harvey's FTs surely would clinch it? No. At 86-83 there was still enough time for Doyle to lift the fans out of their seats with a match-tying triple before Harvey's heave for the win missed, sending the game to overtime.

Harvey had his chance to save the game though, Illawarra trailing 96-99 and heartbeats left in the extension when Crawford, pressuring him down the floor, was called for a foul as Harvey let it fly.

Knocking down all three freebies, Harvey's shots saved the match for the Hawks, sending it to a second five-minute playoff when Anthony Drmic's late prayer went unanswered.

The drama barely abated, Marcus Lee making a free throw for 107-108 before Tasmania had enough time to fashion a final play to steal the match. Needing a regulation bucket, Crawford went early for a 3-pointer which missed. There was time and options but in truth, the JJs shooting 22-of-34 from the charity stripe and Illawarra 24-of-35 meant both kept the door ajar to blow this one.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 108 (Clark 25, Froling 23, Robinson 21, Harvey 19, Lee 12; Clark 15 rebs; Robinson 5 assts) d TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 107 (Crawford 24, Doyle 19, McVeigh 17, Magnay 13; MacDonald 9 rebs; Doyle y6 assts) in double-overtime {86-86} {99-99} at Mystate Bank Arena. Crowd: 4,340