The New Zealand Breakers' push for a top-two and semi-final NBL finish has continued with a dominant 99-71 win over Brisbane.
The result kept the Breakers' stellar away record in tact as the regular season nears completion.
Jarrell Brantley paved the way on an efficient scoring night at Nissan Arena after registering 30 points in his previous match against Sydney.
He and Barry Brown Jr, who was a game-time decision on Thursday, were too much for a Brisbane outfit chasing their fourth win on the trot after a recent purple patch of form.
Brantley had 22 points, missing just three of his 11 shots, three assists, two steals and a block for a 26 plus/minus, while Brown Jr tallied 14 points off the bench, and Dererk Pardon added 17 points and 10 boards.
New Zealand hit 11 of their 26 attempts from three-point range, with four coming consecutively early in the third term to balloon their lead out to 25.
They are now one loss behind Cairns (16-9) on the NBL ladder with three games remaining against Melbourne United (home), Illawarra (away) and Brisbane (away).
A top-two ladder finish means an automatic semi-final berth and avoids a third versus fourth match-up in the NBL's inaugural play-in tournament.
Last year's wooden-spooners will fancy their chances in all three of their remaining clashes with the best away record in the competition - nine wins and three losses, as well as winning six of their 13 home games this season.
Brisbane showed their intent early, attacking the paint through switches and mismatches on Aron Baynes, and led by as many as seven points in the first term before the big man went to the bench.
New Zealand capitalised and upped their intensity defending their hoop and forced seven turnovers to take a 22-20 margin into the first break.
Those turnovers would lead to 16 points for the visitors in the first half as Brown Jr caught fire in the second term following a momentum-shifting block by Brantley.
A chase-down swat on Tyler Johnson's lay-up quickly led to a Cam Gliddon transition three-pointer after Brisbane narrowed the margin to five, but that would be as close as they'd come.
New Zealand leveraged Brantley's swagger to blow the lead out to 15 at the main break, before the visitors held their opponents to just 31 points in the second half.
New Zealand's bench outscored Brisbane 33 to seven as the Breakers cruised home for their 15th win of the season.
