The Taranaki Mountain Airs picked up the booty and left the Auckland Pirates wondering just what hit them, scoring a 101-99 win in their National Basketball League game in New Plymouth last night.

Ahead 54-38 at halftime, things were going along nicely for the Aucklanders at the TSB Stadium and even the home fans had all but given up on their team.

No-one could have predicted such a turnaround in fortunes, with Taranaki storming back in the third quarter to outscore the visitors 36-24 and close to within four points.

Taranaki levelled up the game early in the fourth quarter and then took a six-point lead on the back of two Jack Leasure three-pointers with five minutes left.

However, Auckland clawed back and threatened to steal the game, leading 99-97 with less than a minute to go.

After Taranaki's Aaron Bailey-Nowell levelled the scores at 99-all, it all came down to the last play.

Auckland were in possession, but a steal and a lay-up by Taranaki's Zane Meehl sealed a 101-99 win.

But more drama was to follow, with the three referees and the bench officials deciding there were two seconds left on the clock.

A time out followed, with Auckland's Dillon Boucher hurling the ball the length of the court on the restart in a desperate attempt to find a team-mate and the equaliser. It wasn't to be, with Bailey-Nowell taking the ball as if from a kickoff in rugby.

As he took it, the hooter sounded and players celebrated their second win of the season.

"Crazy stuff," Bailey-Nowell said afterwards. "Dave [coach David Bublitz] gave us a bit of a blow-up at halftime. The boys came out with a bit of fire. Our energy levels lifted."

Bailey-Nowell said the team responded to the talk.

"Our energy levels lifted. We had to put pressure on them and we did. We can now head south for games against Otago and Southland with a bit of confidence," he said. "That's the start to our season. We are growing as a unit and anything is possible."

Meehl said his only thought after making the steal was making the basket.

"I'm just glad I got it in a tight game. My first thought was that the ref might call a foul on me, but he let it go and I was off. It was pretty sweet when it went in."

Boucher said his side had expected a tough game.

"It always is a good battle down here. They toughed it out tonight and they deserved it," he said. "The first half felt good, but in the second half things dried up. We settled for long shots and not to go inside. They made the plays down the stretch and came away with the win."

When asked about the content of his halftime talk, Bublitz said it was "emotional".

"We were so flat in the first half. We played like we did against Southland. We got our energy levels up and things flowed our way. They got tired and had to rest certain players," he said.

"We talked about this game being a must-win in terms of our season and the guys responded fantastically in the second half. They all played well."

The second half and the finish was in stark contrast to what was dished up in the first half, especially from the home side.

Poor shooting, poor shot selection, travel – not the overseas kind rather the footwork– were mixed with some bewildering calls from the referees and some downright poor calls.

So poor was the home side's shooting, one wondered if the players spent any time in the gym practising. Even the usually reliable Leasure was surprisingly cold with the three-point bombs coming from the visitors in the second quarter. Four times they slotted them from the deep and that was effectively the margin at the break.

But Leasure found his radar in the second half with a three-point bomb to get things going after the restart and he drilled another three on the way home.

Leasure finished with a game-high 27 – two more than big man Marcus Campbell, with both pulling down 10 rebounds.

Auckland's Kevin Smith and Brad Anderson both scored 20 points, with Anderson slotting four from six from outside the arc, with Luke Martin also a danger wide out with two from five.

TARANAKI 101 (Jack Leasure 27, Marcus Campbell 25, Aaron Bailey-Nowell 16, Zane Meehl 14) AUCKLAND 99 (Kevin Smith 20, Brad Anderson 20, Kevin Mickens 16, Luke Martin 14, Everard Bartlett 13). Halftime: 38-54.

At Napier: MANAWATU 74 (Darryl Hudson 19, Nick Horvath 14, Jeremiah Trueman 13) HAWKE'S BAY 69 (Paora Winitana 16, Chris Daniel 10). Halftime: 37-34.

At Invercargill: WAIKATO 87 (Tom Abercrombie 28, Jason Crowe 15, Hayden Allen 15) SOUTHLAND 71 (Brendon Polyblank 25, Mark Dickel 17, Kaniel Dickens 12). Halftime: 44-32.

- Taranaki Daily News