South East Melbourne Phoenix star duo Alan Williams and Mitch Creek powered their side to a thrilling 13-point win over Cairns Taipans to climb back into winning form.
After having its four-game win streak snapped to Brisbane on Thursday, Williams (18 points, 15 rebounds) and Creek (21 points, 11 rebounds) recorded the only double-doubles of the game to guide the Phoenix to a 91-78 win.
It was the Phoenix sixth win of the season which continues their strong record at home where they have won 15 of their last 17 encounters.
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Meanwhile the Taipans fall to a 3-4 record after losing its second game to the Phoenix in their last six meetings.
The Phoenix led for the entire second half as the Taipans fought but weren’t able to edge ahead despite strong efforts from rising star Taran Armstrong with 11 second-half points.
Tahjere McCall (eight points, 10 rebounds, two assist) and Bul Kuol (11 points, four rebounds, four assist) were also strong contributors for the Taipans.
Earlier in the contest, Creek landed his first three-ball attempt of the game to make it an 8-0 Phoenix run and a seven-point lead for the home side at the start of the second quarter.
It proved the difference as the Phoenix were able to hold a steady lead for the remainder of the match.
Creek later lifted the Phoenix fans to their biggest roar of the game after landing his second three pointer of the game to put his side eight points in front with a minute left in the third.
Then it was Williams who continued his fine performance when he put his side back out to a 10-point lead with just under five minutes left in the Indigenous Round match.
Then it was curtains when Phoenix guard Matt Kenyon made it an 11-point lead with less than four minutes to play.
GOOD RESPONSE FOR PHOENIX
With both sides entering the match off the back of losses, it was always going to be a crucial result.
The outcome for the Phoenix was an even sweeter after they had lost to the Taipans earlier in the season 87-80.
It was one of their four losses after 10 matches this season.
MCCALL MISSED FREE THROWS PROVE COSTLY
Trailing by eight points with less than four minutes left in the third quarter, Taipan guard McCall missed four of six free throws in less than two and a half minutes.
His costly inaccuracy led the Phoenix to gaining a game-high 10-point lead through Kenyon which came after McCall missed back-to-back shots at the line.
To end the third quarter, Creek landed a three pointer and the Phoenix got out to a eight point advantage at the final break.
TAIPANS START WELL AT JOHN CAIN ARENA
A Bobi Klintman free throw to finish the opening quarter ended a run of eight straight first-quarter losses at John Cain Arena for the Taipans as scores levelled at 23 a-piece.
The Taipans 7-2 trailed earlier before Lat Mayen’s seven points off the bench helped spark the visitors to draw level at the first break.
The comeback maintains a strong first quarter record for the Taipans this season where they ranked first in the league (83.3 win percentage) heading into the encounter.
NBL SCOREBOARD
South East Melbourne Phoenix 91 (Creek 21, Williams 18, Browne 14) d Cairns Taipans 78 (Armstrong 12, Waardenburg 12, Mayen 12)
At John Cain Arena, Melbourne
MAIN MAN COTTON EARNS PERTH MUCH-NEEDED WIN
– Brad Elborough
Bryce Cotton and the Perth Wildcats are back in business.
The Wildcats champ shrugged off a recent form slump to top score in Perth’s entertaining 99-88 win over the Adelaide 36ers at RAC Arena on Saturday night.
After scoring just two points in the opening term, Cotton ignited to finish with 29, his best return from what has been a quiet start to the season.
They did fight back from a 20-point deficit late in the third term to led in the final quarter, but couldn’t close it out.
That was despite the best efforts of Trey Kell, who finished with 25 points.
The result ended a four-game losing streak for the Wildcats and put pause on the Adelaide 36ers efforts to resurrect a poor start to the season.
The 36ers had recovered from a 1-4 start the season and had won three of their past four games.
LOOKING FOR A SPARK
Wildcats coach John Rillie mixed things up to start the game, with Hyrum Harris replacing Jordan Usher in the starting five.
A former Adelaide 36er, Harris set the tone early with three offensive boards in the opening term.
Usher took his change in role well, sparking the Wildcats in the second quarter.
He also sparked Bryce Cotton, the champion seeming to end his rut with 11 points for the quarter.
Adelaide had led by 11 points half-way through the second term and look almost certain to take a lead into half-time for just the second time this season.
But Usher and Cotton gave the WIldcats a 50-44 lead at the break.
DIFFERENT SORT OF GAME
In two previous games between these two teams this season, Adelaide’s Isaac Humphries was too big a hurdle for Perth to handle.
Humphries scored 18 and 26 points against the Wildcats in those outings and averaged six rebounds.
The 36ers had previously been able to take advantage of Humphries’ height. They scored a massive 54 points from the paint and had 51 rebounds in the round 4 win over the Cats.
But on Saturday, Perth won the battle of the boards, 46-35 and restricted Adelaide to just 32 points from the paint.
Perth’s aggression on the glass allowed them to pick up 21 offensive boards and picking up 26 second chance points.
Humphries scored 10 points and pulled in just four rebounds.
OUT OF COTTON WOOL
While Cotton was being kept quiet on offense early, the Adelaide 36ers looked unbeatable.
When Cotton started to get going in the second term, the 36ers looked unable to stop him.
Cotton went into the game with a poor average (to his standards) of 14.4 pointer per game. He had not reached 15 points in four of seven outings.
He had 13 points at the main break, including two from three-point territory.
He had gone 0-8 from long range in a loss to Brisbane a week earlier.
Cotton made six three pointers.
‘SILENT ASSASSIN’ SPARKS JACKJUMPERS IN TASSIE THRILLER
—Jonathon Tuxworth
Don’t poke the bear.
That’s the lesson the Brisbane Bullets learned after the ‘silent assassin’ Milton Doyle sparked to life in the third quarter to spur the Tasmania JackJumpers to a heart-stopping 87-85 win at Launceston on Saturday night.
The JackJumpers had to battle hard against a gritty Brisbane, who erased an 11-point last quarter deficit before the hosts steadied to snap a two-game losing streak.
Former JackJumper Sam McDaniel had the chance to take the game into overtime, but his mid range jumper as time expired missed the mark.
The Bullets trailed 80-69 at one point in the last term, and their rally saw them fall just short of a fourth straight win.
Tasmania struggled with their shooting early and trailed 45-41 at halftime.
But after taking just four shots in the first half, a long range three pointer to beat the halftime buzzer seemed to ignite star import Doyle (24 points) as he drained 14 third term points.
Having trailed by as many as nine points late in the second term, the surge inspired the JackJumpers to end a three-game losing run at the Silverdome, where they had won just once in four previous attempts.
After hitting just 5-17 from three point territory in the first half, the JackJumpers exploded with 7-10 from deep in the third term, including three from Doyle, to outscore the Bullets 35-21 and take a nine-point lead into the last quarter.
Doyle scored just seven points in Brisbane last week, and he was constantly niggled verbally by former JackJumper teammate Sam McDaniel in the first half.
Doyle responded by letting his basketball do the talking, as the JackJumpers improved their season record to 5-4.
After dropping games to Melbourne United and Brisbane last week, Tasmania began the game with noticeably more intensity and scored the first nine points of the game.
The Bullets hit back to trail by just two at quarter time, and led by as many as nine in the second quarter as the JackJumpers struggled with the shooting (37 per cent in first half, 5-17 three pointers) in the first half.
Tyrell Harrison (20 points) and Nathan Sobey (18) led the way for the Bullets, while Jack McVeigh (13 points) was particularly influential in the first half.
PERFECT KINGS PUNISH SLOPPY HAWKS IN NSW DERBY
—Matt Cleary
Makuach Maluach played 121 games for the Lobos of the University of New Mexico and was expected to be a solid back-up man this season to Sydney Kings’ galaxy of stars.
Yet on Friday night in Wollongong the 25-year-old Sydneysider ran hotter than the desert sands of old Mexico, nailing four three-pointers and two two-pointers, plus three rebounds and a block, in his team’s 103-83 demolition of Illawarra Hawks.
Maluach missed only one shot all night and was his team’s coequal points leader with 16 – a big number given his average in the last 25 games for Sydney and Melbourne United was 2.3 points per game.
“It feels good and it’s great to get a win,” Maluach said. “My job is to bring energy to the team and I’ll do whatever that’s required. I can be a cheerleader, whatever I’m needed to do.”
It was an assured performance from a player with a relatively modest resume. Maluach said his confidence comes from a lifetime playing the sport.
“All my confidence comes from the work. I’ve been playing basketball all my life. It’s about getting the opportunity. If I get it, that’s great. If not, that’s okay, too,” Maluach said.
HAWKS WINGED
The Hawks, meanwhile, could barely land a basket, landing just five three-pointers from 20 attempts and at 40% from the field. Their defence wasn’t great either and the Kings rarely looked bothered in a game that appeared a training run at times.
“This is big brother playing little brother,” NBL legend Lanard Copeland observed in commentary, with big brother rubbing little brother’s head in the dirt to take out the Freeway Series fixture at Wollongong’s WIN Entertainment Centre.
”We just didn’t buy in defensively the whole time,” Hawks coach In fairness we have to get something from the playing . Everyone in the room needs to make a change.
“We still scored 83 points … but we’re not going to win basketball games against teams scoring 100 points.”
Jackomas added that this team “have to take this personally right now.”
BIG DUNK
Outside a flying one-handed dunk by Kings power forward Jonah Bolden, the son of former Kings player ‘Big Bad’ Bruce Bolden, it was an uninspiring first quarter with both teams landing 3/18 from outside.
Jordy Hunter – who was again dominant for his team with 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks – opened the scoring for the match with two dunks and a free throw before the Kings went to the break leading 20-17.
Despite the narrow margin the visitors would’ve had more spring in their step than the home team given the Hawks had lost their previous 20 games when trailing at quarter time.
NEW STARS SHINE
Illawarra’s Californian phenom AJ Johnson, 18, took to the court wearing long white socks reminiscent of former Canberra Cannon Herb ‘The Snake’ Mceachin and immediately made a rebound and a foul.
In the second quarter he benefited from a Dan Grida rejection before flying down court, putting on some footwork, swapping the ball from hand to hand and floating in a classy basket.
He also made a flashy dunk with his team down by 20.
Yet it was the Kings ‘Next Star’ Alex Toohey, 19, from Canberra who outshone the American with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Other Kings contributors included 2022 league MVP Jaylen Adams (16 points, 7 assists) and Denzel Valentine (six rebounds, three assists).
Gary Clark was the Hawks lone shining light with 23 points and eight rebounds.
SHORT TURNAROUND
The Kings won’t have long to enjoy the win, coming up against New Zealand Breakers on Sunday afternoon after the Kiwi team enjoyed a dominant 10-point win over Cairns Taipans in Friday’s earlier game in Christchurch.
The Kings are 5-and-3 for the season while the Hawks are 2-and-6, and face the Taipans in Cairns on Saturday. The home team also lost Grida late to a leg injury.
BREAKERS STAR LAMB LEADS TAIPANS SLAUGHTER
— Gyan-Reece Rocha
A third-quarter slaughter led by Anthony Lamb and Izayah Le’afa has led New Zealand to a circuit-breaking win against the Taipans.
The Breakers snapped a four-game losing slide at Christchurch’s Wolfbrook Arena on Friday evening, chalking up their second win of the season with a 91-81 triumph.
Import forward Lamb finished with 19 points for the night to lead all scorers, but it was his and Le’afa’s third quarter showcase which broke open the game for the Breakers.
Both men hit three triples each as the Breakers put on 30 points in the third term, while their pressure on the defensive end was enough to stifle at Taipans team playing without import point guard Patrick Miller for the first time this season.
Five Breakers – Lamb, Le’afa, Will McDowell-White, Parker Jackson Cartwright and Next Star Mantas Rubštavičius – hit double figures in a win which will relieve pressure on a team which made the championship series last season.
Bul Kuol (18pts), Bobi Klintman (17pts, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) and Lat Mayen (16pts, 7 rebs) had big nights for Cairns, who welcomed Taran Armstrong into the line-up for his NBL debut, but the damage done in the third quarter was too much to overcome.
LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER
Lamb was firing on all cylinders as the Breakers chalked up their second win of the season.
The New Yorker aggressively got to the rim in the second quarter, before shooting his side to a third quarter blowout with Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Izayah Le’afa adding to the firestorm.
Lithuania star Mantas Rubštavičius got it going early with a particularly soft touch around the hoop, before he fell victim to friendly fire with a knee to the head by teammate Finn Delany.
He returned to the game in the third quarter, impacting on both ends and denying any concussion concerns at halftime.
TAIPAN THE IRONMAN
Bul Kuol showed no sign of slowing down on his blazing run after playing over 78 minutes in his last two matches in the Taipans victory.
Kuol performed powerfully on both ends once again showcasing his abilities as a Swiss-army knife talent, charging to the basket at will and providing a crucial block on Le’afa to protect the one point lead going into halftime.
He led the Taipans with 18 points, while finishing with two blocks.
Coach Adam Forde said earlier in the week he would resist taking Kuol out the game if he can stay out of foul trouble.
Kuol all bar the last 64 seconds in the third term in another tireless outing.
GUESS WHO’S BACK?
Taran Armstrong made his NBL debut, starting the contest as point guard and finishing the game with seven points and two steals.
A nasty back injury to first-year import sensation Patrick Miller ruled him out of this weekend’s road double putting more pressure on the teams guard depth.
Armstrong was solid as he played 19 minutes in his first appearance but Tahjere McCall did not play.
McCall was declared fit to play after travelling directly from the United States to Christchurch following the birth of his first child but did not enter the game.
IMPRESSIVE BULLETS END PHOENIX’S WINNING RUN
—Nick Tucker
The Brisbane Bullets returned to where they wanted to be after starting the season 2-0 when rocking their Indigenous jerseys in winning style at Nissan Arena on Thursday.
In Aron Baynes’ return from a five-game-suspension, the Bullets won 108-92 over the South East Melbourne Phoenix, flipping the script from their 96-73 defeat against the same opponent just two weeks ago.
Baynes finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and a block in just under 15 minutes of action.
The visitors led just once in the game when up 8-4 early. From there it was all the boys in blue, rocking their Indigenous jerseys in winning style.
The Bullets rose to 5-4 on the season and brought up a hat-trick of consecutive wins, all against strong opposition in Perth, Tasmania, and now South East Melbourne – giving fans a reason to believe they are legit this season.
Crafty Phoenix guard Gary Browne (25 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals) was influential from the get-go for his team, as was big man Alan Williams (14 points, seven rebounds, four assists) and Mitch Creek who quietly notched 20 points.
But the visitors were plagued by foul trouble, and taking advantage of that was a Bullets team which had seven players reach double-digit-scoring.
Josh Bannan (17 points, 11 rebounds), Nathan Sobey (13 points), Tyrell Harrison (14 points, eight rebounds), Isaac White (13 points, six assists), Baynes (12 points), Chris Smith (14 points), and Mitch Norton (10 points) all had their hand in the convincing win.
WHISTLE PUTS WILLIAMS ON ICE
It was like a wrestling match was unfolding on the Nissan Arena hardwood to start Thursday night hoops, and Phoenix big man Alan Williams came off second best when he found himself in early foul trouble.
Williams (14 points) had a soft touch around the rim, was dominant even against Baynes and made his presence felt with nine points, two rebounds and a block in the first half.
But by the main break, he had four fouls, and that disrupted the flow of the Phoenix offence.
Williams had every right to be frustrated when he was called for a moving screen in the second quarter when he bulldozed over DJ Mitchell.
What the referees didn’t see on that play was a helping hand from Baynes nudging him into a Bullet body.
He fouled out early in the fourth quarter after a successful coaches challenge granted him a second chance when his game looked over in the third.
BROWNE BULLIES BRISBANE WITH CROSSOVER
Phoenix guard Gary Browne is Shifty with a capital S.
On one occasion in the first half he put his opposite Mitch Norton on a highlight reel, crossing him over, taking his ankles and splashing a corner three.
He had Norton on an island, moments later having him lose his footing after a sweet dribble move.
This time, the result was different with Browne, Phoenix’s Mr Everywhere Man on the night, putting up an air ball.
But boy did he have some handles. Handles of doom you could say.
BAYNES IS BACK
The flame-haired big man was back and although he wasn’t at his best, it was a good start for someone who hasn’t played in almost a month.
Baynes entered the game with 4:30 remaining in the first quarter after Bullets head coach Justin Schueller opted to start Harrison Tyrell and then give Rocco Zikarsky a go, before blooding Baynes in his return.
Aside from a missed layup and an undercooked floater near the rim, Baynes was the overpowering force the Bullets had been missing.
He had 11 points by halftime, to go along with three rebounds.
MCDANIEL A DEFENSIVE MENACE
Are we looking at an early frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year?
Bullets two-way-weapon Sam McDaniel continued to pester his opposition with his claws reeling in four rebounds and two steals in the first half of action.
A brute on the defensive end, McDaniel made coach Schueller a happy man when he dove on the floor and wrestled for loose ball.
He came up with it, and pushed the ball ahead for Harrison who flushed it down on a pin-point-pass from Norton.
McDaniel had a plus minus of 15, proving that good things happen when he is on the court.
Don’t forget Brisbane also have Shannon Scott who was averaging 3.2 steals per game before he got injured.
Sports Reporter
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