Rob Loe orchestrated one of the Sal’s NBL’s greatest escape acts as he helped fire the Auckland Tuatara into the grand final with a 107-104 overtime win against the Taranaki Airs on Thursday night.
Loe scored five points in a remarkable three second period of play as time elapsed in regulation to send the first semi-final to overtime.
The Tall Blacks and Breakers legend put up a monster stat line – 29 points, 18 boards and five steals – before fouling out in overtime.
His teammates did the rest in the final moments of extra time to power the Tuatara into the decider in their inaugural season.
Tall Blacks forward Taki Fahrensohn had another huge game, scoring 22 points and 13 rebounds while American import Chris Johnson 21 points and 16 boards.
Siler Schneider (11 points, 11 assists) and schoolboy star Dontae Russo-Nance (16 points, five assists, five steals) played superbly as well.
The Tuatara have knocked out the defending champion Wellington Saints and number one seeded Taranaki Airs on consecutive nights at Eventfinda Stadium.
They will now rest up and wait for Friday night’s semi-final between the Nelson Giants and Otago Nuggets to see who their grand final opponents will be.
Tickets to the grand final can be purchased via http://nznbl.link/eefr5.