Super subs Angus Glover and Ian Clark came to the fore as South East Melbourne Phoenix overcame a 14-point deficit to overrun a plucky underdog Cairns Taipans 118-91 at the State Basketball Centre in Melbourne on Saturday night.
The Phoenix showcased their depth of talent with 58 bench points as Glover engineered the second quarter comeback and Clark created separation in a 13-point third quarter blitz.
The energetic Glover finished with 22 points, including 5/8 from three.
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Phoenix starter Wes Iwundu was not overshadowed though with 21 points, including 5/9 from three.
After a slow start to life with Phoenix, the former Orlando Magic forward is proving to be one of the recruits of the NBL season.
Young 100-game guard Owen Foxwell was superb with 13 points and eight assists, while lifting his side with his energy on the defensive end with four steals.
The Phoenix produced a franchise-record 21 three-pointers at an incredible 51% efficiency on a night when MVP candidate Nathan Sobey (nine points, nine assists) was limited to single figure points for the first time this season.
“It’s the way we’ve kind of wanted to put this roster together,” Phoenix coach Josh King said of his team’s array of scoring options.
“We preach it all the time and the guys are doing a great job of buying in, it’s a team game … it’s going to be somebody different every night, or it could be.
“Sobes still played well, he had eight assists and did an unbelievable job in the third quarter, finding Wes and IC [Clark], or running the point guard spot and delivering the ball to the other guys.
“It’s not always about scoring the points, it’s about getting the ball to the guy with the hot hand and he did an excellent job of that in the third quarter.”
It was imperative that Phoenix secured the win in their Wantirna South heartland with a daunting three-game road trip on the horizon with away games against Perth Wildcats on Wednesday, Adelaide 36ers on Saturday, followed by New Zealand Breakers.
The second-placed Phoenix maintained the pressure on the ladder-leading 36ers as they swept their four-game series against the undermanned Taipans this season.
The Phoenix hoodoo continued for the Taipans, who have lost seven straight against the Josh King-coached side, dating back to 2023.
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Despite the lopsided head-to-head record in recent times, King was wary of the Taipans threat and was justified when the visitors threw the first punch.
“Look I’m happy we found a way to win the game,” he said.
“It took us a while and credit to Cairns, they came out ready to go and shot the ball really well, especially in that first half.
“I was telling the coaches in the locker room and even before the game, I haven’t been in the league that long but since I’ve been in the league, last year they [Cairns] beat Illawarra twice at Illawarra, they beat Perth at Perth, this year they beat Tassie at Tassie, they beat Sydney at Sydney, they almost beat Adelaide, they probably could’ve had Adelaide at Adelaide.
“You’ve got to show up and play the game and they were ready to go and credit to our guys for finding a way.”
King praised the unselfishness of his team as they racked up 102 points over the last three quarters after being held to just 16 in the first.
“The biggest stat to me was 31 assists on 38 made field goals,” he said.
“Guys are really playing for each other.”
The unfancied Taipans came out hissing to lead 26-16 at quarter time.
The locked-in visitors raced out to a shock double digit lead midway through the first quarter.
The Taipans knocked down 7/11 from three-point land in the first quarter, including two each to inform Jack McVeigh, Kyrin Galloway and Mojave King.
A clumsy Taipans centre Marcus Lee drew the ire of his teammates and coaches.
Lee disrupted a McVeigh layup, which saw a certain basket turn into a miss when he tried to tip it in.
In a rare showing of emotion, McVeigh and Taipans coach Adam Forde were visibly angered by Lee’s decision to make a play for the ball.
Forde stormed off at half time after another poor decision from Lee to needlessly foul Foxwell with 0.8 seconds left before half time, cutting the Taipans lead in half from six to three after Foxwell’s trip to the line.
McVeigh was absolutely cooking with 15 first half points before cooling off for 21 points, six rebounds and seven turnovers.
A 10-0 run gave Phoenix its first lead for the game with Clark featuring prominently.
Backing up from 24 and 27 point games, the 34-year-old American produced a mammoth third quarter with 13 points, including five triples to completely flip the game on its head.
Taipans combo guard Andrew Andrews dug deep to try and keep the Taipans in the game with 20 points and 11 assists.
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Meanwhile, the Illawarra Hawks have ended a three-game losing streak by defeating an inspired Tasmania JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena.
The JackJumpers lost import Bryce Hamilton just hours before the Saturday night matchup and were down by as much as 15 points at one stage, but a fired up Ben Ayre almost helped his side pull off a remarkable comeback closing the score back down to six points but fell 91-101 short at the final buzzer.
The Hawks looked like the side that claimed last year’s championship with the way Justin Tatum’s men cut lanes and created wide open looks, leading the competition’s current leading scorer Quentin Peterson to drop 19 points to go with six assists, equal Hawk high with William Hickey.
The JackJumpers defence was nowhere to be seen in the opening half as the Hawks dropped 60 points but it lifted in the third quarter, allowing just 22 points as Tassie won their first quarter of the night.
With no Will Magnay or Hamilton, Josh Bannan (22-points, eight-rebounds) and David Johnson (21-points, seven-rebounds) stood up to do what they could to get the home side over the line.
The win for the Hawks just makes the ladder ever so tighter. The Hawks play Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide in their next four games while the JackJumpers take on Cairns, New Zealand, Brisbane South East Melbourne.
Heads were being scratched at who the JackJumpers were going to send to Hawks big man JaVale McGee.
The obvious choice would have been Josh Bannan but coach Scott Roth sent Archie Woodhill to him and it was the right choice.
Despite McGee hit 23-points, the most by any Hawk, Woodhill bodied him early, causing the towering power to get frustrated throughout the first half.
It was a double points game in Hobart between the Hawks and JackJumpers with both teams fighting for the sixth spot on the NBL ladder.
The JackJumpers still hang onto the spot after losing but the win for the Hawks now means they are just two wins behind with eight games to go for Illawarra.
While Tassie have just five games to go including one more game against the Hawks to finish their home and away season.
Another JackJumper injury.
Just hours before tonight’s game against the Hawks, Bryce Hamilton was ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing his ACL causing more of a headache for Scott Roth and his men.
But to add further concerns to his ever growing injury list, Nick Marshall looked to be in serious pain in the opening quarter holding his hip and grimacing throughout the final minutes.
Marshall went straight down to the rooms at the quarter time break, returned in the second quarter but looked like he was playing through the pain.
There was an extra bit of substance in the centre circle spotted by JackJumpers Josh Bannan with a minute to go in the second quarter.
As the cleaning crew arrived to wipe up the mess, it was overheard on the umpires microphones that there was “vomit” on the floor.
It took a few minutes to make sure the whole area was cleaned before the play returned for the final 52 seconds of the second half.
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