Townsville guard John Rillie waged a successful one-man war to boost his team's top four hopes with a 111-104 NBL victory over West Sydney at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.

Former Razorback Rillie finished with a game-high 26 points, including four three-pointers, and added seven rebounds and three assists as the Crocs improved to 15-12 for the season.

The result leaves Townsville well within reach of fourth-placed Perth (15-11), who host the ladder-leading Sydney Kings on Saturday night.

West Sydney trailed throughout most of the game and rarely held the lead apart from a few occasions in the opening quarter.

"It's a topsy-turvy competition and I think it will go to the last round, although back-to-back wins has been good for us in our run into the finals," said Townsville coach Trevor Gleeson.

"Our focus was not on tonight's game because we have the three Queensland teams coming up."

West Sydney coach Rob Beveridge was disappointed with his team's first-half performance and said they made too many mistakes at crucial times.

"It was another frustrating situation for us but I was pleased with their second-half performance, especially out-playing Townsville in the final quarter."

The Razorbacks got off to a slow start, with Rillie's 10 points for the opening term giving the visitors a 34-29 lead.

Every time West Sydney appeared to be gaining confidence, Rillie, Corey Williams and Ben Pepper stepped up as the Crocs held a 67-57 lead at halftime.

Julian Khazzouh and Darnell Hinson were working hard for West Sydney, with Troy DeVries and Rhys Carter also picking up points, but they couldn't match Townsville's power.

At the end of the third quarter Townsville still held a 12-point lead with Rillie taking his total to 24 points.

The final quarter followed a similar pattern with West Sydney desperately trying to catch up and Townsville doing just enough to retain a comfortable advantage.

DeVries topscored for the Razorbacks with 18 points, followed by Hinson (16), while Rillie got his support in the Townsville side from Galen Young (16) and Williams (15).

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