Veteran guard Darryl McDonald was instrumental down the stretch as the Melbourne Tigers held off a determined New Zealand Breakers 106-101 in their NBL clash at The Cage.

McDonald handed out two assists and scored on a drive in the final two minutes of the game to seal a tight contest for the home side.

New Zealand centre Ben Pepper had almost single-handedly kept the Breakers in the game, finishing with 37 points on 16-of-19 shooting, adding 12 boards.

Carlos Powell, the league's leading scorer, added 22 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in another fine all-round display.

Pepper's direct opponent Chris Anstey top scored for Melbourne with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Anstey was one of seven Tigers to record 10 or more points as McDonald found the open man throughout the contest.

Melbourne coach Al Westover was again thankful that he has McDonald running the show for the Tigers.

"You always want him to have the ball in his hands late in the game," Westover said.

"We want him making the decisions in that situation. He's the best in the business doing that."

Westover was not surprised by New Zealand's ability to again push his team to the wire.

"There is no doubt it was going to be a tough game," he said.

"They keep coming at you. They are unlucky they don't have more wins. Pepper killed us. We couldn't do much with him, he was delivering for them."

New Zealand coach Andrej Lemanis felt Melbourne's ability to get second chances through offensive rebounding was the difference between the teams.

"Offensive rebounding was the difference," Lemanis said.

"They had 23 second chance points and that was the difference in the game."

The Tigers began well, posting the first nine points of the game before the Breakers got on the scoreboard. Melbourne allowed New Zealand to trade baskets until the end of the quarter, establishing a 33-21 quarter time edge.

Anstey and Pepper were battling inside, with Anstey giving the Tigers a rebounding edge.

Pepper turned the game around in the second quarter, registering 15 points in the period as the Breakers outscored Melbourne 35-23 for a one-point halftime lead.

The teams continued to go basket for basket through the early stages of the third quarter before the Tigers pulled away late in the term.

Melbourne finished the quarter on a 14-3 run, taking an 11 point lead into the final quarter.

New Zealand made runs through the final quarter but could not regain the lead. The game threatened to explode with five minutes remaining when Powell fouled Anstey as the Tigers centre made a move to the basket.

The pair grappled following the play and both were hit with fouls.

With the referees handling the situation no further action is expected from the NBL.

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