Tasmania JackJumpers have forced a decisive third game in their NBL semi-final series against New Zealand Breakers, thanks to an emphatic 89-78 victory in game two at Hobart’s MyState Bank Arena.

The JackJumpers surged home in the second half of Thursday’s clash to bounce back from a 20-point drubbing in the opening game of the best-of-three series and keep their bid for back-to-back grand final appearances alive.

The teams could not be split after a physical opening half with JackJumpers guard Jarrad Weeks draining a last-gasp three-pointer as time expired to level the scores at 42-apiece at the main break.

The visitors appeared to be on the verge of reaching their first grand final since 2016 after edging ahead by five points nearing the end of the third quarter but Milton Doyle engineered a run of 11 straight points as the JackJumpers stole the momentum with a dominant final term.

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Doyle’s game-high 23 points and Jack McVeigh’s 16-point haul ensured there will be a do-or-die game three at Auckland’s Spark Arena on Sunday with the victor qualifying for the championship series against the winner of the Sydney-Cairns series.

Points were hard to come by early in the contest with both defences holding firm but Tasmania scored nine of the last 11 points of the first quarter to edge ahead 18-14, Matt Kenyon thrilling the home fans by floating home a buzzer-beating triple.

Both teams started to execute on offence in the second period as Barry Brown Jr and Jarrell Brantley combined to put the Breakers ahead on the scoreboard, but the JackJumpers responded with five three-pointers for the quarter, including a dramatic long bomb from Weeks on the siren.

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Early scores from Brantley and Dererk Pardon saw New Zealand grab the momentum in the third quarter but, after building a 60-55 buffer with two minutes to play in the period, the visitors unravelled with Doyle triggering a 9-0 run to see the home side take a four-point edge into the final term.

Doyle opened the scoring in the fourth quarter but found himself on the bench with four fouls, opening the door for the Breakers to chip away at the lead with Tasmania’s leading scorer off the floor.

But some timely baskets from captain Clint Steindl kept the visitors at bay with Tasmania extending its lead by as many as 14 points in the final term.