Phoenix claim a big scalp in Throwdown

The South East Melbourne Phoenix's struggles against the top teams in NBL26 is no more after they delivered a commanding four-quarter showing in Throwdown 31 to hammer Melbourne United 111-86 at John Cain Arena.

Nathan Sobey continued his standout season with the Phoenix to show the way for his team who took a big scalp having lost twice each already so far this season to top two teams Melbourne and Adelaide.

The Phoenix were back at John Cain Arena after an overtime loss to Illawarra on Thursday following a stirring comeback, but they put in a dominant Throwdown performance with Sobey leading from the front.

Sobey knocked down 4/7 from three-point territory on his way to 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals but he had plenty of help with five other players scoring in double digits.

That came with the Phoenix still missing starting pair Owen Foxwell and Malique Lewis with John Brown III finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists, Wes Iwundu 14 points, three boards and two assists, and Angus Glover 14 points, four rebounds and two assists.

DJ Mitchell also landed three triples late in the piece on the way to 14 points in five minutes with Jordan Hunter going 3/5 from downtown again to continue the best outside shooting season of his career with 13 points and four rebounds.

It was a second tough loss coming out of the FIBA break for Melbourne after losing in Perth following Dean Vickerman coaching the Boomers in two FIBA World Cup Qualifiers against the Tall Blacks.

Vickerman changed up his starting group with an under-the-weather Chris Goulding out for Tanner Krebs while Tom Koppens made the first start of his career in place of import Jesse Edwards.

Melbourne never really got going despite 22 points and five assists from Milton Doyle who also came off the bench with his fellow Tasmania JackJumpers championship teammate Fabijan Krslovic getting the start.

Finn Delany added 13 points and seven rebounds in his 200th NBL game, and Tyson Walker 12 points and five assists.

The Phoenix put up a record 58 three-point attempts in Wollongong on Thursday and while they only made 16, coach Josh King wants his team to keep shooting and on Sunday they went 16/31.

It was South East Melbourne's biggest win over their crosstown rivals, bettering the 15-point margin from Round 7 in NBL23.

United still lead the head-to-head Throwdown record 21-10, but their flat performance on Sunday will leave huge cause for concern.

Back-to-back losses dropped United to a 13-4 record, while the Phoenix improved to 10-5.

Melbourne had a horror start in Perth on Thursday to be trailing 15-2 early and he changed three of his five starters in response. Although they trailed 9-3 early they worked way back to level terms before the Phoenix produced a late splurge to take a 32-22 lead into quarter-time.

Alarm bells were ringing for United early in the second quarter when Hunter nailed his third three-pointer to extend the margin to 13.

Doyle and Goulding helped United back into the contest, but Glover's scoring burst ensured the Phoenix went into half-time boasting a 60-45 advantage.

It was the most first-half points United had conceded all season with Walker racking up three fouls in just seven minutes of court time in the opening half, while Delany also entered the break with three fouls.

One of Walker's fouls came when he unnecessarily grabbed at Sobey during a mini battle between the two.

The margin was 19 points when Iwundu nailed a three-pointer late in the third quarter, and it was game over early in the last when the lead ballooned out to 21.

Mitchell's late burst of triples added further salt into the wound for United.

The Phoenix now head to Gippsland to host the Tasmania JackJumpers on Wednesday in their first Ignite Cup match up while United look to hit back in a battle over top spot with the Adelaide 36ers on Friday on the road.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 111 (Sobey 25, Mitchell 14, Glover 14, Iwundu 14, Brown III 14)

MELBOURNE UNITED 86 (Doyle 22, Delany 13, Walker 12)

BOX SCORE