The Canterbury Rams had more composure when it counted the most. They also had Corey Webster and Tevin Brown.
The duo banged in 47 points between them.
Troy Baxter Jun (19 points) and Max Darling (17 points) were instrumental as well.
The Rams pulled away late to win 114-103 and will play the Auckland Tuatara in the final on Sunday night.
Tai Webster (29 points), Sam Timmins (28 points) and Michael Harris (27 points) poured a lot of energy into the game only for victory to drift out of reach in the final five minutes.
There were some very good early signs for the Nuggets.
Tai Webster drilled some early buckets, racked an assist and marched the ball to the hoop with ease.
Timmins looked strong under the rim.
Todd Withers drilled a three-pointer and the Nuggets had opened up a 16-6 lead midway through the period.
The Rams took a timeout to scratch their heads and it worked.
Baxter hit a three for the Rams and made a lovely drive into the paint to bank a lay-up.
But Harris hit a couple of monster threes and smashed a dunk to help build a 33-23 lead at the first break.
Rams guard Brown attacked the rim for a couple of clinical lay-ups.
The other Webster, Corey, hit a three from the top of the key and got another a few moments later.
Then he slipped by his younger brother Tai to net a lay-up. And just like that, all of the Nuggets’ lead had been wiped out.
The Nuggets tried to inject forward Robbie Coman into the game. But, in an administrative blunder, he had been left off the team sheet and was not able to play in the game.
The quarter was shaping as a complete write-off. But Harris hit a late three, Webster floated in a basket and Timmins hit a free throw.
Harris was on the end of some slick passing and finished it off with a three-pointer. Withers made a steal and dunk and Timmins got a bucket under the basket.
But the Rams hit some big shots at the beginning of the third as well.
Nuggets guard Nikau McCullough finally opened his account with a three. The Rams missed that defensive assignment.
Tai Webster had drawn an extra defender to create the time for McCullough.
But the Nuggets ran into foul trouble midway through the period. Withers and Tai Webster picked up their third personal foul and had to defend with caution thereafter.
That also gave the Rams a couple of targets to run at.
Corey Webster hit a three in the dying moments of the third to stretch the lead to 83-78.
Baxter slammed in an alley-oop after Corey had picked off Tai’s pass.
That will get brought up around the dinner table at the Webster household at some point.
Threes from Harris and Withers closed the gap. And with the game on the line, the defending champions went inside to Timmins and the Nuggets captain responded with the some pressure shooting at the stripe.
All the hard work unravelled, though. The Nuggets coped a tough call down the stretch which proved costly.
But the Rams held their nerve better.
The scores
Canterbury Rams 114
Corey Webster 24, Tevin Brown 23
Otago Nuggets 103
Tai Webster 29, Sam Timmins 28
Quarter scores 23-33, 50-49, 83-78.
