The Otago Nuggets secured a place in Tuesday's top-placed playoff and a pass to Thursday's NBL Showdown semifinals in Auckland last night.
They overcame a slow start to beat the Manawatu Jets 97-85 in the top-of-the-table match-up.
It was the side's sixth win in its last seven matches.
After a quiet night on Tuesday, Jordan Ngatai exploded for 37 points on 50% shooting from the field.
The forward had 22 first half points, keeping the Nuggets in touch while the Jets were hot from deep.
That put them in the position to pull away, which they did in the second half.
Their defence locked in, while the trio of of Jordan Hunt (15 points), Josh Aitcheson (14 points) and Kane Keil (16 points) all chipped in
The Jets missed 13 of 23 free throws, in a costly display at the line.
Early on the shots did not fall and the Jets hit a 10-2 lead.
Aitcheson got to the rim to get the Nuggets going, then followed with two triples to pull in the margin.
They were unable to completely close the gap, but 11 points from Ngatai later in the quarter made it 26-23.
Tom Vodanovich (28 points) was hurting the Nuggets from deep, hitting his first four three-pointers and then getting fouled on his fifth.
Every time the Nuggets pulled back, the Jets would open the gap again as they continued to hit from deep.
Ngatai continued to find ways to score, though. He finished a spin move to pull the Nuggets within two, before dishing for Kane Keil to hit a three, giving the Nuggets their first lead one minute before halftime.
The Nuggets made that lead double-digits midway through the third, which they extended as the quarter went on.
Discipline began to let the Jets down, while the Nuggets defence locked in.
They held the Jets to 16 third-quarter points and took an 80-64 lead to the final break.
The Nuggets had the lead at 20 midway through the fourth quarter. But at that point the defence eased off.
A 12-0 run pulled the Jets within arms length, but the Nuggets held them off.
They now have a last regular season game against the Nelson Giants on Saturday at 5.30pm.
