Incredibly the Jets led at the first break on the back of some smooth shooting from their points scoring machine Marcel Jones, the American had 20 at the first quarter break.

But the home side stayed calm and rode out Jones hot start, knowing they too had the firepower to get on an offensive run of their own. And did they. Thanks to some aggressive defence from the likes of Daryl Cartwright and Mike Bell under the basket, Corey Webster and Mychal Green were given licence to run and shoot at will and by halftime the lead for the Heat was ten and the game appeared locked away.

Any doubt of that was quickly erased with an unanswered run of 9 points at the start of the second half that energized the Heat and demoralized the Jets. It seemed that outside of Jones and Kaine Hokianga the Jets had little or no offence. By contrast the Heat was scoring right through the roster with Bell, Green and BJ Anthony strong contributors in the second half.

The win propels the Appliance Shed sponsored Heat to an even split of 5 and 5 on the season and with a road trip to struggling Taranaki on Sunday and a home game against near neighbours Auckland on Thursday, the chance is there for Tony Websters side to put themselves right back in the mix for a top four position by the end of next week.

Jones led all scorers with 36 but was largely a lone hand in a losing effort. For the Heat Corey Webster contributed 32, Green 30, and Mike Bell a double double with points and boards.