United Dig Deep to Beat Hawks in Double OT

Sunday, October 30, 2022

With both teams desperate for a win, it took two overtime periods for Melbourne United to get a much-needed 106-100 victory and consign the Illawarra Hawks to a sixth straight NBL defeat on Saturday.

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The stakes were high for both teams at WIN Entertainment Centre with the Hawks having lost five straight but the last three by a combined 77 points. Melbourne, meanwhile, arrived in Wollongong on its own three-game slide.

In the end, they brought back memories of a quadruple overtime classic four years in the same building and it delivered countless plot twists, two periods of overtime, a surreal victory to United, and a cruel sixth-straight defeat to the Hawks.

Xavier Rathan-Mayes, a one-time Hawk, was the hero for United just to top things off.

It had more drama in the last minute of regulation than most fit into an entire 40-minute match.

Count the punctuation marks: an Isaac Humphries offensive rebound and and-one. A double foul on Rayjon Tucker and Deng Deng that saw four consecutive free throws. A match-saving three from Deng! A buzzer-beater from Tyler Harvey! And that is only half of it.

In all, there were 19 last-minute points before scores were tied at 85-85 at the end of regulation.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LET'S KEEP THIS ONE GOING ?????<br><br>Sam Froling misses the free throw, XRM hits an insane three, Isaac Humphries gets the clutch block ?<br><br>Anyone else can't breathe? ?<br><br>Catch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/5lthyZNYQT">pic.twitter.com/5lthyZNYQT</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1586276733501652992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

United composed themselves after that manic end to regulation and fended off a seven-point effort from Sam Froling (27 points, 17 rebounds for the game) in the first period of overtime alone to emerge victorious.

This was thanks in part to the performance of Rathan-Mayes, who relished the big moments late and delivered with aplomb. He had 32 points and seven rebounds, and ice in his veins when it mattered. None more so than the three-pointer towards the end of the initial overtime.

United coach Dean Vickerman only breathed his first invaluable sigh of relief when Rayjon Tucker (13 points, 13 rebounds) made the second of two free throws with five seconds to go, making it 104-100 en route to the eventual 106-100 win.

Vickerman was a relieved man afterwards to come out of the 'Gong with the win.

"Over the course of it, we put ourselves in a position to win and it kind of slipped away but to walk out of here with a W after two teams biting scratching to win.. is huge," Vickerman said.

"There were moments when we showed composure and there were moments when we showed some brain fades. It was a rollercoaster.

"It was good resilience. Tonight we started a little different. Tried to trust those guys and get a bit more of a balance and everybody accepted new and different roles tonight."

Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas is remaining positive despite the frustrations of the reality of the six straight losses.

"I mean, that's how we have to play in this space. Obviously right now we are disappointed but that is who we are. We probably just need that one extra piece to help some of the extra guys that way," Jackomas said.

"To be down and then Tyler hit a big one to get us back into it. We probably had some break downs in overtime. We could have run [Xavier Rathan-Mayes] off the line in the last one. It's a good sign, but where we're at is we need to be even better than tonight.

"I don't really listen to what everyone is saying, but I can just imagine... we're a sinking ship, it is a new coach, I'm sure there is some stuff being said. What we preach is being fearless."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HOLY RAYJON! ?<br><br>Head above the rim? ?<br><br>Catch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/rZetMCUAfx">pic.twitter.com/rZetMCUAfx</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1586269894277898240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks were up and about early, and Deng Deng’s athleticism was on show with a sky-high block of Brad Newley in the opening quarter. And no one started faster than Tyler Harvey, who had 10 of the Hawks’ first 14 points.

It helped the Hawks’ secure just their second quarter-time lead of the season, which was a narrow 20-18 edge over United. Harvey would eventually finish with 21 points.

At half-time, Rathan-Mayes had a team-high 10 points and United were only denied the lead (Hawks were up 36-35) due to a buzzer beater from the Hawks’ Froling. Talk about teasing what was to come.

New Hawks guard Peyton Siva and United captain Chris Goulding had quiet first halves, with zero and three points, respectively, but it didn’t last. Siva had five quick points to begin the second half, which helped the Hawks to establish a six-point lead and ask some tough questions of United.

Siva continued to create opportunities too and his 11 assists were the catalyst for much of the Hawks’ offence. Siva was a cool head late too, and eventually finished with 13 points. Goulding, as is his way, got hot like a microwave and had 13 of his own by the time the match was done.

Dave Barlow answered Froling’s earlier buzzer-beater with one of his own on the stroke of half-time, a three-pointer that reduced the margin to a mere two points (60-58) at three quarter-time.

Though nine minutes of the last quarter will be forgotten for all the highlights of the last minute and two successive overtimes, Isaac Humphries (20 points, 12 rebounds) deserves far more than a mention for his impact in the paint and he threatened bigger things to come.

Before Rathan-Mayes took over, Humphries was United’s best player.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SOUND THE OVERTIME CLAXON ????<br><br>Tyler Harvey that is just exceptional ?<br><br>Catch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/BpPtSwU4wb">pic.twitter.com/BpPtSwU4wb</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1586272879926050816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It is a match Melbourne fans won't soon forget and will hope it's a turning point in their season. The Hawks, too, can be proud of their efforts, despite the pain of another loss.

Illawarra is next in action on Thursday night at home to the Adelaide 36ers, but before that United will be hosting the Perth Wildcats on Monday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 5

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 100 (Froling 27, Harvey 21, Siva 14)

MELBOURNE UNITED 106 (Rathan-Mayes 32, Humphries 20, Newley 13, Tucker 13)

BOX SCORE