The Breakers hit the road on Sunday afternoon, facing up against Albury at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.
Lachlan Kego returned to the Breakers line-up after an absence last week, but the captain was unable to make an impact.
The Cougars claimed the win by two points, handing Benalla its second loss of the season.
Eric Miraflores who had a stellar personal game, landing 38 points, was not worried by the result.
“I’ve got trust in my teammates,” Miraflores said.
“I think I’m the first one to step up in that moment, and I’ve been working on my game, so when that time comes, I’m ready to try to take over and help the team to win. But it’s tough.
“Individually, it’s a great game, but it’s hard to go home with L.
“But to be honest, I’m very proud of the guys. We kept our composure.
“We were down by, I think, nine points at some stages, and some guys like Sam Beks, Laclan Kego and Bailey Allen all stepped up despite losing.
“(We were) missing two guys in our team (and that had an impact), especially (missing) our main point guard, Jordan Munro.”
The Cougars maximised the home-court advantage and hit the ground running in the first quarter.
The home side had clawed a four-point lead by the first break — Benalla was determined to hit back.
Benalla won the second spell by three points, closing the deficit to one point at half-time.
A tight third quarter saw both sides unwilling to concede control of the game.
Benalla managed to eke out a one-point quarter victory.
The scores were level going into the final spell.
The quarter was low-scoring as both defences stepped up to the pressure.
As time drained away, neither side could pull out a lead.
Miraflores was producing a season-best performance, landing shot after shot to wrack up 38 points and five threes for the game.
But with the siren seconds away from sounding, Albury took a decisive two-point lead.
The Cougars roared in an 80-78 point win.
The Breakers were broken for the second time this season.
Benalla will need to triumph over Shepparton to guarantee its finals berth, but results would all need to go against the Breakers for them to miss out on the North East CBL semi-finals.
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