Western Force were left to rue a poor first half after falling just short against the Hurricanes, with the Super Rugby Pacific heavyweights taking a 45-42 win in Palmerston North on Sunday.
Hunting their third win for the season, the Perth side showed their grit to stay in the fight against the Wellington outfit in the regional city.
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They scored five second-half tries - a 79th-minute effort by reserve playmaker Jake Strachan - keeping their bonus point hopes alive.
The Hurricanes then kept the ball alive as they tried to claw back the bonus point but five minutes into overtime Force speedster Zach Kibirige dotted down at the other end to seal it.
The Hurricanes, who leapfrogged the Brumbies into second spot on the ladder on the back of the win, were missing Ardie Savea with the All Blacks ace rested from the clash.
But they didn't skip a beat early on, racing to a 14-0 lead after seven minutes with backrowers Du'Plessis Kirifi and Brayden Iose touching down.
The second one came from a lineout with a short throw by Dane Coles landing back in his arms with the hooker darting down the short side before finding No.8 Iose.
The Force hit back in the ninth minute when their patience was rewarded with lock Jeremy Williams crashing over after nine phases.
Test veteran Coles himself claimed the home side's third try from a lineout drive before a second try by Iose pushed the margin out to 26-7 by halftime.
With errors and penalties hurting the Force, the Hurricanes were first on the scoreboard in the second half with centre Bailyn Sullivan touching down.
The visitors continued to rally, with halfback Gareth Simpson scrambling across the line after a surging run by his centre Bayley Kuenzle.
Simpson also had a hand in Kibirige's first try, with the winger beating three defenders to take a pin-point kick into the in-goal.
The Force lost fullback Chase Tiatia to a yellow card for cynical play and while the Hurricanes took advantage almost immediately through reserve hooker Hame Faiva, the West Australians also scored, Siosifa Amone picking up the points.
While the margin was too big to peg back, the West Australians can at least return home with some confidence after pushing the home side with their late surge.
HURRICANES 45
TRIES: Kirifi, Iose 2, Coles, Sullivan, Naholo, Faiva
CONS: Barrett 5/7
FORCE 42
TRIES: Williams, Simpson, Kibirige 2, Amone, Strachan
CONS: Simpson 3/3, Strachan 3/3
HURRICANES (1-15): Pouri Rakete-Stones, Dane Coles (c), Tyrel Lomax, James Blackwell, Dominic Bird, Devan Flanders, Du'Plessis Kirifi, Brayden Iose, Jamie Booth, Brett Cameron, Salesi Rayasi, Jordie Barrett, Bailyn Sullivan, Daniel Sinkinson, Harry Godfrey
RESERVES: Hame Faiva, Tevita Mafileo, Owen Franks, Hugo Plummer, Peter Lakai, Cam Roigard, RIley Higgins, Kini Naholo
FORCE (1-15): Tom Robertson, Tom Horton, Santiago Medrano, Felix Kalapu, Jeremy Williams, Tim Anstee, Ollie Callan, Rahboni Vosayaco, Gareth Simpson, Hamish Stewart, Manasa Mataele, Bayley Kuenzle, Sam Spink, Zach Kibirige, Chase Tiatia
RESERVES: Feleti Kaitu’u, Marley Pearce, Siosifa Amone, Ryan McCauley, Jackson Pugh, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Jake Strachan, George Poolman
Referee: Paul Williams
Assistant Referees: Dan Waenga, Mike Winter
