On the landmark opening night at the Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart, the Huskies clawed away in the second half from a one-point lead to collect their second win from four starts in the New Zealand NBL.

Coach Anthony Stewart was a relieved man despite the comfortable margin.

"It was a must-win for us, we got the job done, but we're still not playing the way I want us to at the moment," Stewart said. "We've got two games against star-studded lineups next, so we need to play a helluva lot better."

The home side looked right on track to secure the game from a 21-11 third quarter after they shot 18 of 23 points in a matchwinning run.

The Auckland-based side got back within six points with just four and a half minutes left on the game clock and were rousing to spring an upset and spoil the occasion.

But captain Craig Moller and teammate Lochlan Cummings sunk two clutch three-pointers each to pull away to safety inside the final 90 seconds to win the term 26-21 in the final analysis.

Jalen Billups continued his consistent vein of form on Saturday night.

The gun American forward shot a game-high 22 points to average 24 points a game in the competition.

Chargers championship stars Moller and Tre Nichols scored 20 and 19 points each.

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