South East Melbourne have ended a four-game shedding streak towards fierce NBL rivals Melbourne United in emphatic trend with a complete 84-69 victory within the native derby.
United entered Saturday’s matchup at John Cain Arena boasting a 12-5 general document in Throwdown clashes and in search of a fifth successive win over their crosstown foes.
But the Phoenix turned the tables by recording their largest win over United with Mitch Creek (23 factors, 9 rebounds) persevering with his excellent season, whereas Alan Williams (18 factors, 15 rebounds) and Gary Browne (16 factors, 11 assists) every accomplished double-doubles.
South East Melbourne closed a scrappy opening half with a 7-0 run to construct a 39-32 lead then piled on 17 unanswered factors within the third quarter to place the end result past doubt as United struggled to search out scoring choices exterior of Chris Goulding and Rayjon Tucker.
Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell felt his aspect restored some delight after bouncing again from a 25-point loss to United 13 days earlier on the identical venue, in addition to a highway loss in Perth on Thursday evening.
“I thought there was a bit of a sting in the tail coming from some bad defensive lapses in the game against Perth. So there was a little point to prove and that was good to see the boys respond,” Mitchell mentioned.
United seemed to be constructing some momentum previous to the FIBA break however with Shea Ili sidelined once more with concussion signs, coach Dean Vickerman’s crew have now crashed to disappointing losses towards Adelaide and the Phoenix.
“It has been a constant theme without Shea Ili, I think our offence looks so much different when he’s in the basketball game for us,” Vickerman mentioned concerning the absence of the New Zealand worldwide and reigning NBL finest sixth man.
“(Ili’s) our point guard, he’s our leader, he knows our stuff and I just don’t think we’ve quite got that from other people at the moment.”
New import centre Marcus Lee performed 17 minutes in his debut after changing Jordan Caroline however an absence of bench scoring exterior of veteran Brad Newley additionally contributed to Melbourne’s underwhelming efficiency.
With the scores degree at 32-32 within the last two minutes of the primary half, South East Melbourne made their transfer with Reuben Te Rangi sinking a triple and Creek including two layups to provide the Phoenix a buffer on the foremost break.
Goulding made a promising begin to the second half for United however the power of Williams and Creek beneath the basket kick-started the decisive third-quarter run for the Phoenix, whereas Ryan Broekhoff drilled back-to-back three-pointers because the lead stretched into double digits.
