Mitsubishi Match Recap: NBL25 Round 5 v South East Melbourne Phoenix

Melbourne United have dropped their lone game of Round 5, going down against the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Throwdown XXVI.

Celebrating The Multicultural Game, Melbourne got off to the perfect start, as Rob Loe lobbed an alley-oop pass to Jack White for the slam.

On offence, three pointers from Matthew Dellavedova, Ian Clark and Flynn Cameron kept the score-board ticking over, while White and Loe anchored United’s defence with their rim protection.

The contest remained tight for the entire quarter, however it was Melbourne who took a two-point advantage into the first break.

More hot shooting from deep from Clark, Goulding and White saw United pull ahead by as many as eight points, however the Phoenix were able to fire back quickly, going on a huge run which flipped the lead.

Another late Goulding bucket allowed the home side to claw back a bit closer, but it was SEM that found themselves up by five points at half time.

The Phoenix built on this to start the third period, however United slowly cut into the deficit through the aggressiveness getting to the free-throw line.

Kyle Bowen provided great energy throughout this stretch, which was highlighted by a blocked shot on one end and a three-pointer on the other.

Another three, this time from Tanner Krebs, beat the buzzer to end the period, pulling Melbourne within three-points of tying up the game.

Loe was able to bring the scored level to start the fourth, splashing a triple from the top of the arc, however SEM quickly took control of the game, going in front by as many as 11 points with 4 minutes remaining.

Late hustle plays from Goulding, Clark and Cameron kept Melbourne in the game, closing the gap to just four points with less than a minute left.

It was however not enough in the end, as the Phoenix held on to claim a 84-83 victory.

United’s next game will come on the road against the Illawarra Hawks on Thursday the 24th of October.