Hulking import Larry Abney exploded for 30 points as Townsville smashed its South Dragons hoodoo with a 115-102 win at the Swamp.

Playing his 50th NBL game, Abney combined the game-high points figure with 14 rebounds to complete another polished double-double this season and spoil Shane Heal's return to Queensland.

Captain-coach Heal, who is based on the Gold Coast during the off-season, paced the Dragons with 27 points but rested himself for a large portions of the third and fourth quarters.

He was slapped with a technical foul by referees shortly after replacing himself in the third quarter as the game looked like slipping away from the visitors.

A Drew Williamson triple with 3:54 left in the third quarter saw Townsville's lead balloon to 15 points, the margin remaining the same leading into the final term.

The Dragons closed to within three points late in the game but a Brad Newley three-pointer with 4:14 remaining blew the margin back out to nine points.

Newley added 24 points, including in the second half, for the Crocodiles (10-8) with skipper John Rillie posting 18 points and EJ Rowland 21.

Import Kavossy Franklin (26 points) and boom rookie Joe Ingles (22 points - 16 in the final quarter) provided valuable support for Heal.

After building a slender 26-24 lead after the opening quarter, the Crocodiles were left down by poor shooting from the charity stripe during the second quarter, with numerous opportunities missed to extend the lead.

Abney missed five of Townsville's eight wayward free throws in the first half but still managed to compile 18 points as the hosts stretched the lead to 54-46.

The Dragons (7-10) must rebound from the loss in less than 24 hours when the travel to Cairns to face the Taipans while the Crocodiles have the luxury of a week's rest before their next game.

It was Townsville's fourth successive win - all at home.

Abney said there was a self-belief within the club that has it primed to make a run for the top-four.

"We're getting better every week - it showed tonight," Abney said.

"But I'm not ready to get ahead myself. We'll just keep going one game at a time and see where it goes."

Dragons coach Shane Heal said the loss put a dent in their playoffs chances but warned Cairns they intend to rebound tomorrow night.

"I think it does (hurt our playoffs chances)," he said.

"We built this game up as a really big match-up. The difference is if we win this game we're one win behind Townsville, now we're three wins behind Townsville. (It's a) double-whammy.

"It's disappointing to lose but at the same time our season's far from lost. Tomorrow night becomes even bigger.

"Since I began coaching we haven't lost two games in a row so we've been able to fight back and hopefully we can dig in and do that (on Saturday) night."

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