And for the second straight year, the team with Deba George emerged triumphant.

One year on from a match-winning 42-point haul for the Chargers, George scored only 15 points but made the pivotal play in the extra period to spark the Bandits to a thrilling 100-93 victory on Saturday night in front of 910 raucous fans.

With 38 seconds left in overtime and a 98-93 lead, George picked off Tom Wright’s dribble at mid-court, leading to a resounding dunk from import Donte Nicholas to seal the win and keep the Bandits’ unbeaten record at home intact.

A physical clash on-court also briefly turned nasty post-game, with coaches Brad Chalmers and Hobart’s Ben Rush having to be separated by SEABL match officials.

Rush appeared to take offence to the force of Chalmers’ handshake, with harsh words offered by both parties before cooler heads prevailed.

“That’s nothing really, it is what it is,” Chalmers said.

“We shook hands and we move on.

“He should just be really pleased with his team’s performance, they threw a lot at us.”

The Bandits were led by the indefatigable Cory Dixon, who posted a mammoth double-double of 34 points and 14 rebounds, while Donte Nicholas was back to his lethal best with 28 points and nine boards.

Hobart was led by an outstanding performance from Wright, who hit four triples without blemish on his way to 26 points, while Kevin White added 21 points.

“Full credit to them, they shot the ball really well, particularly from three, made some big shots,” Chalmers said.

“We didn’t expect them to be as efficient from there, they were plucky all night.

“We were good in patches too, I didn’t think we played poorly but we probably weren’t as sharp as we needed to be.

“And we spluttered in and out of good form throughout the game, defensively there’s some things we need to work on.

“It was a great game, both teams went hard, it was physical and to win in overtime was good because we hadn’t been tested in that position.”

A sluggish start from both teams saw the Bandits take a narrow 23-21 lead after one quarter, a Nicholas steal and dunk proving to be a rare highlight.

Occasional flashes of brilliance — including a Dixon lay-up at the buzzer — allowed the Border club to take a 47-42 advantage into the long intermission.

Hobart kept the game to an arm-wrestle for much of the third period, staying within striking distance to only trail 73-67 with one quarter to play.

Hobart pushed hard again to close to 87-84 with two minutes to play and then tied it on White’s third — and final — triple with 73 seconds left.

With 30 seconds remaining, George couldn’t capitalise on a golden opportunity to score before White missed a tough look that would have won the game for Hobart and then Sepokas couldn’t hit a desperation half-court heave at the buzzer.

The teams traded baskets throughout the overtime before two clutch free throws from Daniel Sepokas gave the hosts a 98-93 advantage with 48 seconds left, leading to George and Nicholas’ late heroics.