JackJumpers rebound at home to beat Melbourne United

Tasmania is not done yet, as they put the league no notice with an emphatic defeat of the NBL league leaders.

After losing a series of recent games in closing minutes, the Tasmania JackJumpers together one of their best 4 quarter performances of the season, to defeat Melbourne United 107-86 at MyState Bank Arena.

Coming into the game the JackJumpers had lost 6 of ther last 8, including losing their last two at home. But the JackJumpers quickly reminded the home crowd that the “Jackie style” of basketball was still there, as they dominated at both ends of the floor.

After falling behind 11-1 early, a pair of threes from Jack Mcveigh (23 points) kept the home team in touch, and Jordon Crawford (25 points) also found his range with a pair of threes late in the quarter to see Tasmania snatch the lead at the first break 24-22.

From that point on the JackJumpers stretched their lead as they shot 14/26 from outside, while when they were missing, they also able to create extra opportunities through 20 offensive rebounds. They took the lead out to double figures at half time 54-44, but then pushed on in the second half to lead by as many as 26, then eventually finished up winning by 21.

The JackJumpers benefited from contributions from all across the floor, with Anthony Drmic scoring 16 points and Marcus Lee continued his strong late season form with another double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds. While Will Magnay put some early foul trouble behind him to have 6 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks, and lifting he energy of his team in the 10 minutes he was on court.

Melbourne were always going to struggling to compete with Tasmania’s bigs on the glass with Jo Lual-Acuil missing from the contest for personal reasons, but that was compounded when Ariale Hukporit picked up his 4th foul in the third quarter. Tasmania comfortable won the rebound battle 55-35.

Melbourne had all five starts score in double figures, with Chris Goulding leading them with 16. They missed a go-to scorer in the second half, and the play making and defensive pressure of Shea Illi was also evident, with them struggling to stop Crawford at the offensive end.

JackJumpers looking to build momentum

After the game JackJumpers coach Scott Roth reflected on his getting an important win, but they wouldn’t be getting carried away.

“We just needed to take a deep breath and get back to what we were been talking about for the last weeks of how we should be playing,” Roth said.

“I thought they were really consistent and across the board I thought our defense was very solid for most of the game and our shot selection was really really good for most of the game too.

“So really obviously happy to get a win in this building but its still a long way to go here with a lot of tough games ahead of us and we’ll see if we can build some momentum out of this.”

The JackJumpers remain in third place on 12-11, but have the Kings (11-11), Bullets and Taipans (both 11-12) rounding out the top 6.

Next up

Tasmania travel to New Zealand to take on the Breakers (8-12) on Friday.