NBL24 Match Recap - Preseason v South East Melbourne Phoenix

Melbourne United have won their final preseason game before the NBL Blitz on Saturday night in a spirited contest against the SEM Phoenix.

Playing in front of a sold out crowd at Casey Basketball Stadium, Luke Travers got United on the board first, finishing an off the backboard alley-oop from Shea Ili.

Ili, who only just returned to Melbourne after starring for New Zealand at the FIBA World Cup, continued to feed his teammates, pulling down an offensive rebound and dishing it to Ian Clark, who cashed in on his first points in a United uniform from beyond the arc.

This was the first of a pair of triples Clark knocked down in the opening term. The highlights continued for Melbourne, who started to build on their lead thanks to two thunderous slams from Ariel Hukporti, the second of which came on the end of a beautiful alley-oop pass from Campbell Blogg.

Travers got in on the dunk party, driving baseline for a lefty jam as United ultimately took a 21-16 lead into the first break.

Looking to build on their lead, Melbourne got off to a slow start, with the Phoenix pulling in front briefly. Needing a spark, Luke Travers stepped up in a big way, pushing the pace and hustling on both ends to rip away control from SEM.

United’s star forward finished the half with 14 points and nine rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass.

This combined with some timely buckets from Shea Ili and training player Tom Koppens allowed Melbourne to take a 42-36 lead into half-time.

While another Travers putback to start the quarter made it appear that it would be much of the same across the 10 minutes, Melbourne struggled to play with rhythm, turning the ball over and allowing the Phoenix to get on a run.

A couple of great plays from Shea Ili gave United back some momentum, as did a sky-scraping block from Ariel Hukporti, however a poor term saw MU fall behind by five leading into the final period.

Looking to end the game with a bang, Melbourne looked towards Ili to get the ball rolling.

The kiwi dynamo scored or assisted on nine of United’s first 11 points as they looked to cut into the deficit.

Still trailing by eight points with three minutes remaining, attention shifted to Ian Clark, who took over the game. ‘IC’ went on a personal 11-0 run, including back-to-back-to-back triples to propel United back into the lead.

Needing to close, Clark followed this up with a pair of clutch free-throws in the final seconds to secure Melbourne a 89-86 victory.

United will now head up to the Gold Coast at the end of week for the NBL Blitz.

Their first game will come against the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday 16 September.