The South Dragons have taken another significant step with a commanding, high-scoring 121-110 win over the Townsville Crocodiles at Vodafone Arena in Melbourne on Saturday night.

Clearly still on a high from their stunning upset over the Sydney Kings last Monday night, the Dragons led for the majority of the night but made their big move late in the third stanza and never looked back after blowing the margin out to 12 points.

The Crocodiles had no answers for the final-term demolition as the home side - much to the delight of the Melbourne crowd - raced away to a 17-point lead midway through the fourth.

Dragons playing coach Shane Heal was pleased with the way his side blew the Crocodiles away after halftime.

"I thought it was certainly ugly at the start and it wasn't the way we anticipated coming out," he said.

"But I think after halftime we really knuckled down and got back to our fundamentals and started to do the things that we stand for."

A totally offensive game where the combined scores toppled the 200-point mark before the game had even finished seemed to unravel the Crocodiles, who struggled to get any sort of defensive set-up going while the Dragons rebounded well.

Crocodiles coach Trevor Gleeson was disappointed his side gave away such a comprehensive lead in the third term but was happy with the way they ran out the final stanza.

"I thought we were right in there through most of the game, expect for that third quarter," he said.

"We just lost it there a little bit and gave them a six-point lead and then they kind of extended that right on the break.

"The guys' effort was great in the last quarter, even though they stretched it out a little bit. They worked hard to get it back and get with a chance, but we couldn't defend the three."

Kavossy Franklin was a crowd favourite as he nailed 13 points in the first term and then stepped up strongly during the Dragons' big move in the second half, while Heal again provided a spark for the home side with a total of 27 points.

Crocodile Brad Newley was brilliant for the visitors and rarely put a foot wrong in offence to end with 31 points and four assists while Larry Abney and Andrew Rice played key supporting roles.

The Dragons looked the goods early and were rebounding strongly but it wasn't long before the game dissolved into a shoot-out – the first quarter producing high scores of 35-29 with the home side favoured.

Franklin and Newley both boasted a whopping 13 points to their names while Heal wasn't to be ignored with eight of his own in the first term alone.

The Dragons also started the second term strongly and it wasn't long before the Crocodiles' withering defence allowed the home side to blow the margin out to 11 points.

An infuriated Gleeson called a time-out with the strict instruction of defence and the side consequently managed to grind its way to a two-point lead before a two-pointer by Frank Drmic left the scores tied at 59-59 at the halfway mark.

Newley continued to stamp his authority on the game in the second, increasing his tally to 19 while Heal stepped up to 17 for the Dragons. Crocodile Rice and home hero Drmic also got into the swing of things and were on nine points apiece with a half to go.

The Crocodiles kept things close at the start of the third until Franklin again entered the game with influence and nailed two quick three pointers to kick-start the Dragons into what would become a nine-point lead.

Townsville kept coming but the Dragons again hit the accelerator and nailed a three-pointer with seconds to spare, only for Rosell Ellis to snare the rebound and nail a miraculous mid-court shot as the clock wound down.

The Dragons took a handy 12-point lead into the final term and were quick to increase that to 15 while Newley continued to do everything he possibly could.

It became quite ugly for the visitors early on with the difference drifting out to 18 points but the Crocodiles recovered and staged a slight comeback to get within eight points.

Next up the Dragons face the Kings at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, while the Crocodiles front Wollongong at the Townsville Entertainment Centre, both in seven days' time.

South Dragons 121 (Heal 27, Franklin 25, Holmes 20)
Townsville Crocodiles 110 (Newley 31, Abney 16, Robertson 14)
@ Vodafone Arena, Melbourne, 11/11/2006. Crowd: 3861