The Auckland Tuatara suffered a narrow 111-110 heart-breaking Sal’s NBL loss to the Taranaki Airs in New Plymouth on Monday.
The Tuatara were slow out of the gate and were rocked with an injury to captain and big man Rob Loe, that saw the former League MVP miss the second half.
The Tuatara rallied to claw their way into the contest but came up agonisingly close, which sees their win streak snapped at five games.
Will Hickey scored a game-high 36 points to go with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Buay Tuach added 21 points.