Rosell Ellis and Joe Ingles led the Dragons to a terrific 107 - 94 win against the Melbourne Tigers in front the biggest Philips NBL Championship crowd so far this season, not to mention the biggest crowd in Melbourne for almost five years.

Following the last derby match-up of the two Melbourne teams, the Dragons came away defeated... Not so tonight.

Ingles, Rosell Ellis (29 points, 11 rebounds) and Kavossy Franklin (26 points, 7 boards) formed a three-man wrecking crew that outscored the Tigers 31-16 in the final term.

South's hustle at both ends meant its undersized team out-rebounded the bigger Tigers 56-43.

The Dragons now move to 10-12 and strengthen their hold on a play-off berth ahead of ninth-placed Adelaide (8-14).

The loss dropped Melbourne to 14-5 and snapped its eight-game winning run.

The result also levels the season series at 1-1, with the final game on January 10 on the Tigers' home court.

The Tigers got their scores in bursts - Rashad Tucker had 11 first-quarter points, while Dave Thomas scored the team's last nine points of the second term.

Thomas finished with a team-high 23, while good support came from Tucker and Chris Anstey, who both had 18 points.

To conclude the round the Dragons are at home to Perth on Saturday and away to Wollongong on Sunday, while Melbourne hosts Cairns on Saturday before travelling to Townsville.

South Dragons 107 (Ellis 29, Ingles 28, Franklin 26)
Melbourne Tigers 94 (Thomas 23, Anstey 18, Tucker 18)
Crowd: 9175 @Vodafone Arena, 26/12/2006