Landale ensures United hold off gritty Bullets

Melbourne United has held onto top spot of the NBL ladder but they were made to work for it in their 98-89 win over the Brisbane Bullets who threatened a furious comeback on Monday night.

It was just four days ago the Bullets stormed home like thieves in the night to seal a comeback victory over the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong.

They threatened to do it again on Monday at John Cain Arena as they turned an 18-point half-time deficit into just a five-point difference midway through the final quarter.

This time, though, United had the class to hold off the rampage even with Shea Ili, Scotty Hopson and Jack White missing from their roster. 

It was fitting that Australian Boomer Jock Landale completed the enormous plays down the stretch to seal the result. He capped off his fourth consecutive double-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks.

Chris Goulding did Chris Goulding things with 18 points including four triples while Yudai Baba was enormous off the bench with 16 points. Credit must go to Mitch McCarron as well who had 11 assists before literally running out of the stadium for the birth of his child. 

A relieved Dean Vickerman said he was impressed by the way his charges started after uncertainty over McCarron leading into the clash.

"I loved the way we started the game, we were super aggressive and everybody shot the ball confidently," he said.

"I thought we came out (of halftime) a little tentative offensively .. it was a little passive."

Vickerman said McCarron had been touch and go all day after his partner went into labour.

"It was a little scary ... we were unsure on what was going on, we gave him until game time to exit the building at any time.

"Having Shea Out and having Hop out ... it was going to be a massive ask for (development player) Sam Short to come out and lead our team tonight."

"Hopefully Mitch has his baby and in the next couple of days we will have another little baby in the United family."

The undermanned Bullets have earned plenty of supporters for their gutsy style of play in recent weeks while undermanned and they threatened another boilover, but their first half ultimately cost them before the scoreline blew out late.

Nathan Sobey was sublime once again with 30 points including six three-pointers, many of them at clutch moments that gave his side hope at victory. 

Harry Froling was impressive again as a starter with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists, Matt Hodgson had 13 points and eight boards while Lamar Patterson started to find glimpses of his former glory with 12 points off the bench.

Froling said the early onslaught from United was like "a punch in the mouth" and Lemanis admitted his side had no answers in the first half.

"I thought we got manhandled in the first half, they had their way with us," he said.

"They had 11 offensive boards by half-time, they had turned us over a bunch and had a stack of three-pointers. At least in the second half we fought back."

Lemanis also made special mention of the hospitality provided by United in the lead up to the game to give the road-weary Bullets every chance to prepare in a professional manner.

He credited former Townsville Crocs GM Denis Keeffe for the quote "without the opposition, you don't have a game" and thanked United for providing a professional preparation and game day environment.

Landale gave himself an early heat check and came up with the goods, splashing consecutive triples as the home side took the early advantage. It became contagious as 12 of United's first 25 points came from the land of plenty.

Lemanis called his charges in for a timeout, stressing the importance of protecting the three-point line but United finished the quarter with a triple anyway and it was the home side in control at 31-20 at the first break.

Control turned into an all-out assault as United ripped their way through a Bullets side with their wheels stuck in the mud. By the time the scoreboard has rattled up to 43-26, Lemanis called for his second timeout and didn't mince his words.

Harrison came out of the huddle with a statement dunk but it was the work on the defensive end that would have pleased Lemanis, as the Bullets got four straight stops and managed to eat into the lead. When Sobey landed a long-range dagger, the Bullets were back with eight points and it was Vickerman who wanted a chat with his players. 

United predictably responded which led to Hodgson knocking Goulding to the floor, prompting the players to come together for some push and shove as things got heated. Hodgson and McCarron were issued unsportsmanlike fouls while Jo Lual-Acuil was issued a tech foul for being third man in.

The Bullets had fought hard to stay within reach but late bombs from McCarron and McDaniel were hugely damaging as United took a 58-40 half-time lead.

Brisbane was not going to die wondering and came out of the break firing, a Tyrell Harrison steal and then clever pass to Sobey slashing the lead to single digits.

Any time that United looked like skipping away, the Bullets came up with a huge play. This time it came through a Tamuri Wigness steal, a Sobey four-point play and a Patterson step-back triple that slashed the margin just five points. 

It could have been worse for United, with Patterson denied a last-gasp triple that was hoisted just after the three quarter-time siren had sounded.

The pressure got to Vickerman and he surrendered a technical foul for his antics on the sideline for the match which got the Bullets back to within seven, inching their way back. Sobey collected his fourth foul but returned to splash another triple to make the lead five, another inch. 

But United came up with big plays at big moments and Landale completed his big night with a block and dunk that shut the door on the Bullets resistance.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 13

MELBOURNE UNITED 98 (Landale 23, Goulding 18, Baba 18)

BRISBANE BULLETS 89 (Sobey 30, Froling 15, Hodgson 13) 

BOX SCORE