JackJumpers Catch Fire to Keep Dreams Alive
The Tasmania JackJumpers’ fairytale journey continues when they rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat the South East Melbourne Phoenix 84-80 to keep their NBL finals hopes alive.
The Tasmania JackJumpers’ fairytale journey continues when they rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat the South East Melbourne Phoenix 84-80 to keep their NBL finals hopes alive.
A win for the Perth Wildcats on Saturday night meant the JackJumpers needed to keep winning to have any chance of making the finals in their first NBL season, and the Phoenix were not in a giving mood at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
South East Melbourne, frustrated at being out of the finals, came out ready to play, and right before halftime, they had a 15-point lead thanks to Mitch Creek and Xavier Munford, as well as Cam Gliddon’s two big threes.
The JackJumpers struggled on the glass and shooting threes in the first half, but a Jarrad Weeks buzzer-beater gave them optimism at halftime, and they built on that momentum in the second half.
Josh Magette, Jack McVeigh, and Josh Adams all made enormous threes to overcome the deficit, putting the JackJumpers ahead, and then down the stretch, massive triples from Adams and Magette, and then a fantastic block from Adams on Creek secured
The triumph improves the JackJumpers’ season record to 16-11, with a home game against Melbourne United coming up next Saturday as they strive to catch either the 17-9 Illawarra Hawks or the 16-10 Perth Wildcats.
McVeigh had a career-best night, scoring 26 points and grabbing nine rebounds for Tasmania, including 4 of 9 from downtown. Adams contributed 23 points, including 5/10 from long, and Magette had 12 points and four assists.
Scott Roth, the JackJumpers’ coach, couldn’t disguise his pride in his squad afterward.
“I am just proud. These guys have been great, and it makes me emotional to realize how much we’ve put in one other. “They’re an amazing group,” Roth stated.
“We were obviously out of character in the first half, allowing 48 points, so I challenged these players at halftime to clean up a couple areas. We’ve only been embarrassed once by Illawarra, so I reminded them that we’re on schedule to lay another egg here, no pun intended, this Easter.
“We were on pace to do poorly, but these boys responded to a small pep talk, and their spirit, fight, and tenacity were incredible. During the second half, the defense
Creek led South East Melbourne with 27 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, followed by Munford with 17 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals and Izayah Le’afa with 11 points, five boards, three assists, and three steals.
Creek was upset after letting another chance to win slip away.
“It wasn’t fantastic; we didn’t close out games, and the third quarter was ****house. Creek stated, “We didn’t box out, and we gave them easy second chance threes on multiple occasions.”
“We had zero o-boards in the first quarter, three in the second, which is respectable given their effectiveness, and 11 in the third and fourth.
“That probably resulted in 15 or 20 points, which is where we lost it. It’s tough to play such a well-rounded game against such a well-oiled machine as the JackJumpers, but with all due respect, they made big plays when they needed to.”
For all of the first quarter, there was nothing to differentiate the two teams, and it was reflected on the scoreboard, which was tied at 19 at the break.
South East Melbourne pulled away early in the second quarter, scoring seven points through Mitch Creek and Xavier Munford. Izayah Le’afa scored five points in a row to put the Phoenix up eight, and Cam Gliddon added a three to make it fifteen.
Despite a Jarrad Weeks buzzer-beating shot for the JackJumpers, the Phoenix led 48-36 at halftime thanks to a combined 27 points from Creek and Munford, as well as 26 boards to 13, including 11 on the offensive end.
Tasmania had to dig deep, and they kept hitting threes, which paid off in the second half with two quick ones from Jack McVeigh and Josh Magette.
By the time Josh Adams nailed two of his own from long and McVeigh added another, Tasmania had transformed a 12-point halftime deficit into a three-point advantage.
McVeigh’s career-best performance continued with a three-point play, extending Tasmania’s lead to 68-66 after three.
The Phoenix restored the lead with a Gliddon triple to begin the fourth, but JackJumpers skipper Clint Steindl answered in kind. McVeigh added another to put Tasmania back up, before import guards Adams and Magette sank one from downtown on consecutive possessions.
There were some dramatic moments late, but buckets from MiKyle McIntosh and Magette, followed by a block from Adams on Creek, clinched the win for the JackJumpers.
The JackJumpers will end their season at home against Melbourne United on Saturday, while the Phoenix will return home to Adelaide on Friday night before finishing in Perth against the Wildcats on Sunday.
