Townsville’s Gary Ervin literally stole victory for the Crocs as he picked Jonny Flynn's pocket on the final play to secure an 85-84 home win over the Melbourne Tigers on Saturday night.

Ervin (26) and Luke Nevill (26) were a dynamite double act for the Crocs and received strong late support from Todd Blanchfield (13).

Chris Goulding (25 points, 8 rebounds), Jonny Flynn (18 points, 8 assists) and Seth Scott (12 points) were on fire early for Melbourne and will be ruing not putting the game away.

Townsville was a bumbling mess in the first term while Melbourne was slick and physical as a blowout appeared on the cards.

Scott dropped eight in the opening quarter while out-muscling a rusty Nevill as the Tigers took a 25-17 lead at quarter-time.

The Crocs had only Ervin to thank for not allowing the gap between the sides to get out of hand.

Nevill was a giant awaken after the break, taking control of the paint and showed off his long-range shooting skills to rack up 10 points as Townsville pulled within three at half-time.

Goulding and Flynn did enough to keep the Tigers' noses in front 66-60 at three-quarter-time, but Townsville fought back once again.

Ervin and Nevill continued to fire and appreciated Blanchfield's sudden hot hand as he nailed two triples to bring the Crocs within a basket.

An amazing Blanchfield-to-Nevill alley-oop with just over a minute to play tied the scores but Peter Crawford turned the ball over in the open court, allowing Tommy Greer to restore Melbourne's lead with 35 seconds remaining.

The tables turned dramatically on the next play, however, as Greer fouled Crawford while shooting a triple.

The London Olympian slotted all three free throws before Flynn went one-on-one with Ervin in another chapter of their fascinating match-up on the night.

Ervin held his ground and then stripped his fellow New Yorker before he could attempt a match-winning shot to seal a memorable victory.

Townsville Crocodiles 85 (Nevill 26, Ervin 26, Blanchfield 13)

Melbourne Tigers 84 (Goulding 25, Flynn 18, Scott 12)


Crowd: 3360 at Townsville Entertainment Centre