A gutsy and determined Christmas day performance by the South East Melbourne Phoenix have seen them pull off an upset 85-77 win over the JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena in Hobart.
In the midst of three game losing streak and missing key players Mitch Creek, Craig Moller and Gorjok Gak, it was always going to be an uphill battle against for the Phoenix in front of a sold out crowd on the road.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut in a game that at times was uglier than most of the Christmas sweaters in the crowd, the Phoenix just found a way to win. They shot just 33% from the field for the game, but it was their determination on the glass and ability to attack the rim and get to the free throw line that saw them win the game
“Congratulations to South East, if we would have ended up winning that game in the end, we didn’t deserve to win the game at all,” JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.
“We were horrendous with our foul discipline and then obviously 24 offensive rebounds that’s a recipe for disaster.
“They outworked in a lot of different areas, out scrapped us and they deserved to win, they were the better team through the entire night, we were just lucky to be hanging around to be honest with you,” he said.
Both teams struggles on the offensive end were obvious from the opening quarter, with both sides missing multiple shots around the rim as well as missing multiple open looks. The Phoenix were able to work the scoreboard moslty the free throw line as they took a 19-12 lead at quarter time, and held Tasmania to thier lowest opening quarter of the season.
Milton Doyle (18 points) and Jack McVeigh (20 points) helped the JackJumpers get back into the game in the first half, as they took the lead midway through the second quarter with some key baskets. Two late threes to Jordon Crawford (12 points) and McVeigh seeing the homeside take a 40-39 lead at the main break.
Embed from Getty ImagesTasmania held that 1 point lead through to the final quarter but Phoenix imports Gary Browne (20 points) and Nader (20 points) stepped up when it mattered, especially with leading scorer Alan Williams playing a limited role on 4 fouls. Browne opened with quarter with back-to-back threes, while Nadar was consistently finding his way to the foul line to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Tasmania took regained the lead late at 77-76 on the back of Will Magnay dunk with two minutes to play. But that was the last they scored as the Phoenix forced Tasmaia into multiple turnovers and forced poor shot selections to finish the game on a 9-0 run and pick up a famous victory 85-77.
Scott Roth lamented his team sending the Phoenix to the line throughout the game.
“Obviously walking them 29 times they went to the line and then the shot a heck of a percentage from the line, 27 points off there, So again that’s a lot of self inflicted wounds but again give them credit they attacked us and beat us in back-cuts and beat-us in stuff that we were quite aware of,” he said
While Milton Doyle had his best game in recent weeks with 18 points, but said his team were eager to put this game behind them.
“Disappointed, but you know part of basketball, just got to regroup into the new year and get some rest so excited for 2 days off,” he said.
Rebounds led to extra scoring opportunities
Usually one of the best offensive rebounds sides in the league, the JackJumpers were outworked by the Phoenix 45-30 in rebounds, including 24-12 offensive rebounds.
This led to the Phoenix score 22 second chance points to the JackJumpers 10.
Magnay injury concerns
Some worrying news for Tasmania came in the the final minutes of the game when Will Magany hobble off the courtwith what appeared to be a foot injury. No information is avaible yet, but the immediate concearns are whether its an aggrevation of the foot injury sustained in the off season that kept him off court for the opening 10 games of the season.
Up next
The JackJumpers now have a week break before facing the New Zealand Breakers on 1 January at MyState Bank Arena.
