Mitsubishi Match Recap: NBL25 Round 13 v Tasmania JackJumpers

Melbourne United have gone down against the Tasmania JackJumpers on Monday evening.

In a high-scoring first period, Melbourne bigs lived above the rim, as Jack White and Marcus Lee skied high for slams.

The latter added a block to his stat-line, delighting the sold-out John Cain Arena crowd.

A returning Chris Goulding showed no signs of rust, quickly connecting from downtown to take sole possession of 5th all-time for three-pointers made in NBL history.

Despite this, an 11-0 run from the visitors gave them the advantage after the opening 10 minutes.

Slowly but surely, Melbourne fought back, again through Goulding’s shooting and Lee and White’s athleticism.

Add in a three from Kyle Bowen and a tough and-one finish from Matthew Dellavedova, United were able to cut down the lead to just four points heading into half time.

Following a spectacular fireworks display, the game stayed tight, with both sides putting together runs.

Lee and Rob Loe attacked inside, combining for 12 points in the period around the hoop, helping to inch United closer to taking the lead in the final seconds of the third.

Trailing by just one point to start the fourth quarter, the game remained intense across the entire 10 minutes.

The JackJumpers were able to pull ahead by as many as 12 points following a disqualifying foul on Rob Loe, however Dellavedova and Shea Ili took their game to another level following this.

The pair combined for 12 points before setting up Lee for another alley-oop slam.

While Melbourne were able to reduce the gap to just one bucket, Tasmania were able to close the game out, finishing with a 91-97 victory.

United will next be back for a Boxing Day road clash with the Cairns Taipans from 7:30pm.