Phoenix Bounce Back for Throwdown Victory

They had to win ugly, but after being whacked by almost 30 points in their last outing the South East Melbourne Phoenix won't mind after getting up 78-72 over Melbourne United in their Throwdown at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.

South East Melbourne had little time to reset after their 26-point hiding at the hands of the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday in Christchurch but did enough to edge out their Melbourne rivals in a game littered with errors.

United had a golden chance to work their way back into the season but the performance that had more turnovers than highlights saw them slip to a fourth straight loss to be 5-9.

But despite dominating all game, the Phoenix struggled to find the knockout blow.

Pushing out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter and a 12-point advantage in the second, the Phoenix had plenty of opportunities to put this Throwdown beyond reach.

United were given a sniff and almost took it in the third quarter, mowing down the lead and threatening to steal it for themselves.

Ultimately, 18 turnovers and back-to-back unsportsmanlike fouls meant that United were their own worst enemy and the Phoenix were able to reset and claim a much-needed win.

Alan Williams paced the Phoenix with 18 points and 12 rebounds while Mitch Creek was industrious with 16 points and six rebounds.

However the shining light was import Gary Browne who turned around his worst performance in the NBL against the Breakers with a man-of-the-match performance that included 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

South East Melbourne coach Simon Mitchell revealed that he showed his players footage from the Breakers massacre minutes before they took to the court to inspire them.

"It was a lot better (tonight), I wasn't happy at all with the performance in New Zealand," he said.

"Credit to them, they were amazing, but we were really bad. I think it was a personal pride thing. We watched some video before we come onto the floor of us letting them blow by us, prick at the personal pride of some of the guys to make sure they were on point.

"Some of the guys carried injuries into the game, but there are no excuses once you are on the floor. It can't happen, what happened in New Zealand."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ryan Broekhoff making the defender (and the fans) jump for joy ?<br><br>Catch the final few minutes of this close one live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/ioNNaVpnVi">pic.twitter.com/ioNNaVpnVi</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1598991928304930817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Xavier Rathan-Mayes toiled all night for United for his 15 points and seven assists but was not enough to snap their losing skid.

Chris Goulding tried to shoot his side out of trouble and finished with 13 points and was followed by Rayjon Tucker with 12 points and five rebounds, and new import Marcus Lee with 10 points and eight rebounds.

United only got eight free throw shots for the entire game compared to 35 for their opponents, but coach Dean Vickerman was not willing to blame that for the loss.

"It's not like over the last five or six years we are a team that leads the league in free throws," he said.

"We need to do a better job of not fouling ... it was a massive discrepancy, but we had plenty of chances. We shot ourselves in the foot a number of times. 

"Jumping at the three-point shot, two unsportsmanlike fouls, there were so many things, 18 turnovers, six of them in the first half were uncontested. We will focus on us for the whole second half of the season."

Both sides were intent on pushing the pace early and the result was a flurry of errors as neither side could make their passes stick.

Creek was keeping things ticking along for the Phoenix while Williams was getting the job done in the paint and it was the home side that took the early advantage.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Creeky at the buzzer ?<br><br>Catch the NBL23 action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/oZ95N6uPj6">pic.twitter.com/oZ95N6uPj6</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1598972608061403136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

As United struggled from the field with a clip of just 30 per cent, Trey Kell III made hay from long range and the Phoenix were looking ominous with an early 10-point lead.

Things can change quickly in this league and the momentum quickly swung when Goulding and David Barlow peeled off consecutive triples to close the margin to just two.

Creek had the last say with a triple of his own which took the Phoenix into quarter time with a five-point lead.

The breakdowns continued to happen for Melbourne and Creek was there to cash in every time, single-handedly putting his cross-town opposition to the sword.

A late Goulding long-range splash helped United stay in touch, but the Phoenix were fully in control and took a 45-38 lead into half-time.

Something clicked in the United camp after the break and they seized on a period where the shots wouldn't drop for South East Melbourne, roaring back to be within two points after earlier trailing by as many as 12.

The Dean Vickerman adjustments were disrupting the Phoenix offence perfectly and instead of shots landing, there were turnovers galore, no-look passes that sailed out of bounds, travel calls and contested shots jacked up out of frustration.

Melbourne had a golden chance to take the lead but imploded spectacularly, surrendering two unsportsmanlike fouls to gift the Phoenix desperately needed points when they couldn't buy a bucket.

When Goulding gave away an off-the-ball foul, any advantage United had earned had been squandered, although a late jam from Mason Peatling meant the deficit was still just four points heading into the final quarter.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mason Peatling finishing the quarter with an EXCLAMATION POINT!<br><br>He brings United to within four at the final break ?<br><br>Catch the final quarter live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/dySAIrF0nr">pic.twitter.com/dySAIrF0nr</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1598988714247483392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A Goulding three-point hit to level the scores in the final four minutes set up a tense finish but the lack of execution continued to haunt them and they were consigned to their fourth consecutive loss.

Melbourne has the short turnaround to take on the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong on Monday night. The Phoenix are next in action on Thursday night hosting those same Hawks.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 9

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 78 (Williams 18, Browne 17, Creek 16)

MELBOURNE UNITED 72 (Rathan-Mayes 15, Goulding 13, Tucker 12) 

BOX SCORE