Armstrong, Mackinnon shine at Blitz

Taran Armstrong showed just what he's going to provide the Tasmania JackJumpers in NBL27 as did opponent Max Mackinnon while he had help with a dominant showing from Tyrell Harrison as the Brisbane Bullets won 112-91 at the CODE Sports NBL Blitz.

It was a first appearance at the Blitz this week in Bendigo for both teams and in the end the highlight was the performance of the young local stars that grabbed the headlines.

Armstrong is back in the NBL this season and playing for his home state team with the JackJumpers and even though his team was missing Ben Ayre, Majok Deng, Anthony Drmic, David Johnson, Will Magnay and Bryce Hamilton, he came up huge.

He finished with 25 points and seven assists while for the Bullets, Mackinnon showed that he's ready to take the NBL by storm in his rookie season with 26 points on 4/7 shooting from the outside.

Then there was the dominant showing from imposing centre Harrison who enjoyed not having to go up against Magnay and delivered a match-winning performance for the Bullets made up of 28 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Bullets were closer to full strength for the first hit out at the Blitz even with Jacob Holt, Sam McDaniel, Taine Murray and Lat Mayen not suiting up, and they got off to the better of the start with 24 points to 15 in the first quarter.

That was with Max Mackinnon already having 10 points for Brisbane while Taran Armstrong had 10 for Tasmania on 4/6 shooting with the rest of his team managing just five points on 2/14.

Both teams had little trouble scoring throughout the second quarter putting up 33 points apiece with the Bullets shooting 11/19 from the field and 4/7 from downtown with Mackinnon up to 19 points by half-time while Tyrell Harrison had 13 points and six rebounds.

The JackJumpers had 33 points too on 12/19 shooting with 6/12 from the outside with Armstrong having 17 points and four assists while former Bullet Dakota Mathias was up to 10 points with 2/3 from beyond the arc.

It was another 31 points to 26 in favour of Brisbane in the third frame with Mackinnon adding another five points with Harrison providing another eight along with two more rebounds for them to be leading 88-74 by three quarter-time.

It was another 24 points to 17 in the last quarter with the Bullets ending up winning by 21 and as a team they ended up shooting 57 per cent from the field and 11/27 from long range.

On top of the performances from Harrison and Mackinnon, Mitch Norton contributed 11 points and four assists, Nate Hinton 11 points and six rebounds, Arnas Velička 10 points, 13 assists and five steals, Josh Duach nine points on 3/5 shooting, and Archie Woodhill eight points, two rebounds and two steals.

There were plenty of stars missing for the JackJumpers but on top of the performance from Armstrong, Dakota Mathias showed his shooting touch against his former team with 17 points while going 7/14 from the field and 3/8 from the outside.

Nick Marshall added 17 points, five rebounds and five assists, Josh Bannan 12 points, eight boards and four assists, Ben Gold 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Ryley Haywood six points and two boards.

BRISBANE BULLETS 112 – TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 91

Brisbane Bullets
Tyrell Harrison – 28 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Max Mackinnon – 26 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds
Nate Hinton – 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
Mitch Norton – 11 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds
Arnas Velička – 10 points, 13 assists, 5 steals

Tasmania JackJumpers
Taran Armstrong – 25 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds
Nick Marshall – 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Dakota Mathias – 17 points, 2 steals
Josh Bannan – 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
Ben Gold – 11 points, 11 rebounds