Delany leads United over plucky JackJumpers

The starters of the Tasmania JackJumpers did themselves proud with their fight but it wasn’t quite enough with Finn Delany the difference as Melbourne United kept their NBL season alive with the 82-68 victory.

The seasons of both teams went on the line at John Cain Arena in the Play-In Qualifier on Thursday night and both had personnel issues.

That saw the JackJumpers forced to ride their starting five for all but 18 minutes of the 200 minutes on offer in the absence of Will Magnay, Bryce Hamilton, Ben Ayre, Nick Stoddart and Sean Macdonald.

They put up a strong fight too to only be a point down heading into the fourth quarter, but Melbourne just had enough in the end with Delany leading the way in his first finals appearance with United.

He delivered a season-best 33 points with six rebounds on 13/19 shooting while former JackJumpers championship hero Milton Doyle added 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and 5/9 three-point shooting.

United also had their own personnel issues without starting centre Jesse Edwards with back spasms while Shea Ili was limited to 8:20 and Chris Goulding was again well short of being 100 per cent.

However, Melbourne got the job done with a 13-4 run to open the final quarter and to end up winning by 14 to keep their season alive and set up a Play-In Game in Perth against the Wildcats on Saturday.

Fabijan Krslovic battled hard against his former team playing 31:35 with three points and seven rebounds.

Tanner Krebs backed up his form with the Australian Boomers for 11 points with 3/5 three-point shooting while Tyson Walker added seven points, six assists and four rebounds.

Nick Marshall played all 40 minutes for the JackJumpers for 20 points, six rebounds and two assists with Josh Bannan adding 16 points and five boards, David Johnson 16 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Tyger Campbell 12 points and six assists.

Melbourne did get off to a good start with threes from Tyson Walker and Finn Delany helping them to an 8-4 lead but then the JackJumpers showed their grit by going on an 11-0 run.

That included a triple from Josh Bannan and an and-one from David Johnson as they opened up a 15-8 advantage, but Melbourne had that back to 17-15 by quarter-time thanks to a late three-pointer from Tanner Krebs.

United kept that momentum going to start the second quarter with the opening seven points topped off by a triple from Krebs as the home team built a five-point advantage.

It took the JackJumpers almost three minutes to score in the quarter but they did do enough to stay within striking distance even with Melbourne outscoring them 25-14 for the term including former JackJumpers putting up his only eight points up to that stage.

United were on top 40-31 by half-time and were up eight still late in the third quarter, but the JackJumpers were hanging in there and set up a big finish with eight straight points.

That started with Majok Deng making his first bucket of the game and by three quarter-time it was Melbourne only clinging to the 56-55 lead.

United then started the final period strongly with a 13-4 run that included three balls from Doyle, Krebs and Delany, and then Doyle nailed another to stretch the lead further as they ended up wearing down the JackJumpers to win by 14.

Melbourne now head straight to Perth to play the Wildcats in the Play-In Game on Saturday night with the winner to advance to a Playoffs series against the Sydney Kings while the season will be over for the loser.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL FINALS 2025/26 – PLAY-IN QUALIFIER

MELBOURNE UNITED 82 (Delany 33, Doyle 19, Krebs 11)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 68 (Marshall 20, Bannan 16, Johnson 16)

BOX SCORE