The lucky Gators live to fight another day after an excruciatingly narrow two-point win over La Trobe University Eagles in the Victorian Basketball League Big V men's division 1 on Saturday night.

A string of missed free throws late in the game almost brought about the Gators' downfall. They built a seemingly unassailable eight-point lead at the Darebin Community Sports Centre until reaching the bonus situation in the fourth quarter. But they failed to close out the game from the charity stripe as foul after foul shot would not drop.

The Eagles started to believe in a miracle comeback and stretched the game out as long as possible with the concession of free throws.

The tactic worked. They got to within two points of the nerve-racked Gators with four seconds remaining.

"We've missed another foul shot, they've got the rebound, thrown it to half court, put up a shot and the buzzer has gone," Davey said. "The season was hanging in mid-air and your heart is in your mouth. Straight away I'm thinking, this is going in and then it just rimmed out. We won by two and it's nice to be on the winning end of one of them."

The Gators are clinging to fourth after the 16th round with a pack of teams breathing down their neck.

They confront the toughest road trip in the division on Saturday night. "Our grand final is next week against Warrnambool," Davey said.

To be in a position to control their own destiny, the Gators had to find a way past the Eagles in a thrill-a-minute affair.

The Eagles got the jump with an impeccable first-half shooting performance to lead by nine at half-time.

"They came out all guns blazing," Davey said. "They shot unbelievably well and were 70per cent from the three-point arc at half-time."

But the Eagles' shooting percentages dried up and the Gators' defence took over in the third. The home side was restricted to just nine points in a dismal third term.

The Gators, led by 19 points to veteran Randy Shanklin, took control of the game. "We did all the one-percenter things," Davey said. "We played our game, worked it inside and gradually got over the top."