Having completed a three-point play with less than four seconds on the clock, the US guard had the chance to steal victory in the last two seconds but his three-point effort could only find the rim.

Marcel Jones sunk a two-pointer immediately after, but not before the Silverdome buzzer sounded to hand Canterbury a 68-66 win.

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"We were disappointed to lose, but we thought our guys did a great job against a quality side," Huskies assistant coach Brett Smith said.

"We played them on Thursday night in Hobart and they beat us comfortably ... we improved a lot in 48 hours.

"Tonight we made some adjustments defensively, our guys did a really good job of following those plans and it was a roll of the dice at the end.

"If the shot drops we win the game, but we were proud of our players' efforts."

Down 10-19 in the first term, the Huskies clawed their way back to lead by as many as six points late in the third before the Rams' defensive pressure won out.

Nicholls led the way for the home side with 22 points, while Jones backed up his recent good form with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Captain Craig Moller (16 rebounds, 10 points) collected nearly twice as many boards as any other player, but was forced to sit out the final three minutes after being called for an offensive foul.

"Craig Moller getting fouled out was unlucky and a critical call - losing him we lost that athletic three man, but other than that our guys played their hearts out," Smith said.

"Although we lost it was a really positive effort - probably the best we've played all year as group."

The fifth-placed Huskies will meet Canterbury again next weekend in New Zealand.