The Southland Sharks have held on to beat the Taranaki Mountain Airs 97-95 in an nailbiter at the ILT Velodrome tonight.

The victory came at a cost for the Sharks, however, with American import Kevin Braswell leaving the court after just 46 seconds with a ruptured Achilles tendon to his left foot. He is expected to be out for a minimum of six weeks, with Sharks coach Richard Dickel admitting it could be even longer.

Southland showed huge character to win without the presence of the talented combo guard with youngsters Dan Peck and Sam Dobbs having huge games off the bench and scoring 16 points between them.

Trailing 59-55 midway through the third quarter, Southland changed the complexion of the game, going on a 18-4 run to jump out to a 10 point advantage.

Led by sharpshooter Jack Leasure and dominant American centre Marcus Campbell, Taranaki refused to go away, and clung to the Sharks throughout the fourth quarter.

With one minute remaining, a Leasure basket trimmed Southland's lead to two, before Sharks' captain Mark Dickel knocked down a huge three to extend their advantage to five.

A three pointer to Cameron Stuart with 10 seconds left kept Taranaki in the hunt, but Southland held their nerve with Mark Dickel and Brendon Polyblank hitting free throws at the other end of the court to nail the win.

Taranaki's Josh Paurini drained a three pointer from halfcourt on the fulltime buzzer, but it was too little, too late.

Southland's American small forward Kaniel Dickens had his strongest game since joining the team posting 24 points and seven rebounds. Dickel produced a man of the match performance with 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Brendon Polyblank had 22 points on an off night's shooting.

Leasure was always a threat on offence for Taranaki and finished with 25 points, while Campbell was tough to contain in the low post and grabbed a double-double of 16 points and 17 rebounds.