The Adelaide 36ers held off a fast-finishing Crazy John's South Dragons outfit to win 96-93 at the Distinctive Homes Dome on Saturday.
Trailing by 22-points late in the third quarter, Shane Heal and local talent Joe Ingles led an amazing revival that saw the visitors draw to within a point with only five seconds to play.
A shaky Sixers held on to record their third victory in a row, with Adam Ballinger's 42-point, 15-rebound performance proving a match-winning effort.
The Sixers were heading towards victory when a Ballinger slam dunk gave his side the edge in the final minute.
But Jacob Holmes silenced the crowd of 4379 when his clutch jump shot created the smallest margin of the contest.
Only some foul shots from the man of the moment Ballinger sealed the result.
After Ballinger, Darren Ng was next best with 16 points while Lanard Copeland bobbed up with 11 points.
A strong opening quarter helped Bakari Hendrix accumulate 24 points, while Heal (20 points) and Ingles (18 points) scored heavily during the comeback.
Earlier, Adelaide had made a strong start to the contest and was desperate at both ends of the court.
Ballinger led the charge and scored 13 points for the stanza thanks to some heavy work under the basket.
Hendrix's 11 points was a highlight for the Dragons but overall his team's offensive game was disappointing - the team dropped just six of 18 shots from the field.
So it was no surprise the Sixers held a 27-19 lead at the first break.
Ballinger continued his good form in the second term and was the difference between the two sides.
The former Hawk was dropping the ball from all parts of the court and finished with 22 points for the half.
Despite his dominance, the visitors worked hard and got within four points midway through the term. But they missed some crucial buckets when they had the momentum and allowed Adelaide to sneak away again.
A Ballinger block set up David Cooper for a team-lifting slam dunk in the dying moments of the quarter, setting up a handy 11-point half-time lead.
Ballinger pushed the buffer out to 16 with the opening baskets after the break.
But in a pleasing sign for the Sixers, he was not the only player to contribute in the third term.
Neil Mottram worked hard for consecutive baskets and Ng showed poise under pressure to drop back-to-back three pointers.
It was this team effort that saw the Sixers veer away and open up a 73-53 scoreline with 12 minutes to play.
It was all the Dragons in the final quarter with Ingles and Heal both scoring 13 points for the term.
The Sixers struggled to find away to the basket and Brad Davidson was double-teamed every time they got a hold of the ball.
But they held on to record a memorable victory.
36ers veteran Lanard Copeland said the team was disappointed with the final scoreline but was pleased to record its fifth victory of the season.
"We let them back into it, they hit some big threes and once you hit some big threes like that you get momentum," he said.
"When Phil (Smyth) came into the locker room he goes 'It was ugly but we are going to take it', we didn't worry about how ugly it was we were just happy to get the win."
Dragons coach Shane Heal said he was proud of his team's comeback after a disappointing opening three quarters.
"I think we threw caution to the wind and we were 20 points down and we said 'Let's have a crack at it," Heal said.
"We believed we could go and win it. If we had played with that sort of enthusiasm and that sort of effort and mentality we obviously would have give ourselves a chance."
The Sixers now have five wins and six losses while the Dragons hold a 3-9 record.
Adelaide 36ers 96 (Ballinger 42, Ng 16, Copeland 11)
South Dragons 93 (Hendrix 24, Heal 20, Ingles 18)
Crowd 4379 @ Distinctive Homes Dome