The Crazy John’s South Dragons snatched a 104-99 victory over the Perth Wildcats in Bunbury last night to level the three-game series at 1-1 ahead of tomorrow’s decider.

The hard-fought battle was the visitors’ first win over the western powerhouse in their past five encounters, fuelling the strong rivalry that is fast emerging between the two sides.

The Crazy John's South Dragons took a seven-point lead into the major break but were again outplayed in the third term to be two points down at the final change.

But with the memory of their 17-point loss to the Wildcats on Wednesday night still fresh in their minds, the team was not about to let this one slip and rallied in the final quarter to stitch up the five-point victory and level the pre-season series.

Just as the Wildcats dominated the rebound count – and the scoreboard – 48 hours earlier, the visitors took the upper hand under the rim last night and went on to win the game.

After just 12 minutes on court in game one, import Nick Horvath last night spent more than double that time on the floor and proved a major offensive weapon with 29 points.

Fellow US recruit Cortez Groves added 22 points in support, 14 of which came in a blistering final term.

Matt Burston continued his stellar pre-season run with 17 points to his name, while Joe Ingles (12 points), Shane Heal (10) and Jacob Holmes (nine) also made an impact on the scoreboard.

Import Shawn Redhage top-scored for the home side with 22 points, all posted before three-quarter time, while Paul Rodgers netted 20 of his own.

The teams will meet at Joondalup Arena tomorrow afternoon in the final game of the pre-season series.

Perth Wildcats 99 (Redhage 22, Rodgers 20, Loughton 16)
Crazy John's South Dragons 104 (Horvath 29, Groves 22, Burston 17)