Brisbane coach Joey Wright brushed aside suggestions his NBL club was a one-man band after the reigning champions continued their dominance over Melbourne in the first grand final re-match of the season.

An Ebi Ere-inspired Bullets (13-5) prevailed 112-108 in a thrilling clash at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Saturday night to make it eight wins from nine games and maintain second spot on the ladder behind the Sydney Kings (16-2).

The Tigers (12-5) remain in third after suffering their sixth loss in eight games against Brisbane.

MVP contender Ere drained a game-high 39 points, including the decisive three-pointer which broke a 106-106 deadlock with 45 seconds left.

Tigers coach Alan Westover claimed the Bullets would be struggling without the Nigerian international.

But Wright said such comments ignored the efforts of guard CJ Bruton, who fought off illness to score 30 points in another impressive display.

"It's amazing how much people are overlooking what CJ's doing because he's right there," said Wright, adding Bruton should not be overlooked in MVP discussions.

Westover, to his credit, also admitted his side would not be as high as they were on the table without 2006 MVP Cris Anstey, who finished the match with 21 points and 22 rebounds.

"Chris has been killing them all year, that's the third time he's had over 20 rebounds which is just a phenomenal feat in itself," said Westover.

"We'd probably be in the same boat if we didn't have Chris, we'd be struggling."

The grand final re-match was the highlight of a dramatic weekend of NBL action which saw the Townsville coach Trevor Gleeson ejected from his side's win over Wollongong.

The eight-placed Crocodiles (11-9) won 108-98, but may yet be headed for an unsettled Christmas with the league laying charges on Sunday against Gleeson, who was dismissed midway through the third quarter after charging down the court to challenge the umpires ruling over a contentious turnover.

He has until 5pm Monday to decide whether to have his case heard by NBL Tribunal Chairman Ken Madsen at a formal hearing, or to deal with it via a telephone hook-up.

In other games on Saturday, Adelaide (8-10) leap-frogged West Sydney (8-12) into ninth place after defeating the Razorbacks 122-100 in Sydney.

Perth (9-7) snuck above Cairns (10-8) and into fifth spot after Shawn Redhage scored 37 points to lead the Wildcats to a 108-80 home win over the South Dragons.

While the Gold Coast (11-7) won their fourth straight match, 91-86 over cellar dwellers Singapore, to stay in fourth.

The loss capped a tumultuous few days for the Slingers, who lost to West Sydney in Singapore on Wednesday, before stunning the Taipans in Cairns on Friday, 93-89, to record their first away win of the season.

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