'I just let it fly': Was McVeigh's shot a season-defining moment?

In a hectic contest against the Cairns Taipans which went to overtime, the final 13.5 seconds epitomised the frantic nature of the evening with scores tied at 87.

A relentless Tahjere McCall exploded past Will Magnay for an easy lay-up having used just five seconds of the clock, and with no timeouts the visitors would have seven more to go from one end of the Snake Pit to the other.

Inbounded by Magnay, he threw it just short of the halfway line to McVeigh who put the ball on the floor and moved the offence up to the top of the arc.

With time seemingly at a standstill, McVeigh paused before handing it back to the trailing Magnay before sprinting out to the sponsor logo on the wing a good few metres back from the line.

Magnay honoured his teammate's run as McVeigh caught and fired over the desperate hand of Sam Waardenburg - 90-87.

"I just let it fly," McVeigh said.

"And then I can't really remember what happened for the 30 seconds after that.

"They're the moments I work for and live for."

Even beyond the shot which will surely stand as one of the JackJumpers' greatest in their short history, it was perhaps the South Australian's best game since making the move down to Tasmania, finishing with a team-high 24 points and five rebounds.

In third place with seven wins and five losses as the league prepares for a break for internationals, the JackJumpers' season has been something of a rollercoaster, with this gutsy performance coming straight off the heels of a disappointing defeat against New Zealand at Launceston's Silverdome.

"We talked about trying to solve some of our issues that we've had on the defensive end and I thought we just responded very well," coach Scott Roth said.

"I'm so proud of our guys and the grit and the grind and defending the island on the road and making the people of Tasmania proud of how we compete."

But to the Ant Army this should not be a surprise.

A disappointing first match of the season against Perth was backed up by a strong win against the two-time reigning champions Sydney Kings and when they were beaten by the resurgent Brisbane Bullets, the JackJumpers pulled off a thrilling response in the reverse fixture a week later.

"I don't expect anything less than that, they know what our culture is about and what we're expecting from them," Roth said.

As for how important that shot was?

Beating the seventh-placed Taipans puts them three wins inside the playoff bracket instead of one and with the NBL's third-best percentage (104.4), they now sit pretty firmly within the league's top six.

And with Milton Doyle (nine points and six turnovers before getting fouled out) not producing as much with the ball recently and Jordon Crawford - who scored 10 points in the first quarter, 10 in overtime and nothing in-between - still building consistency, there is plenty of upside for one of the league's best offences.