Goulding keeps rolling in win over Kings

The Sydney Kings dug deep to make a game of it in the second half but Chris Goulding delivered another six three-pointers for Melbourne United to keep their roll going with the 101-98 win at John Cain Arena.

United came into the contest on Sunday afternoon having won their past three matches before the FIBA international window while putting up 113 points in those, and they kept going in the first half at home.

The Kings had no answers for Melbourne's offence in the first half with Goulding hitting five of his six three-pointers for the game with his team piling on 65 points on 69 per cent shooting overall.

However, Sydney turned the tide in the third quarter holding Melbourne to 14 points on 4/18 shooting and without a three-point make. The Kings kept on coming and even tied the scores inside the last two minutes with a long ball from Jaylen Adams.

Jack White and Adams then traded threes, but a bizarre eight-second backcourt violation from Adams proved costly for the Kings with 24.1 seconds to go.

Goulding was off the floor after injuring a calf in the dying minutes with Shea Ili fouled and making one to give Melbourne the one-point lead with 12.9 on the clock.

Shaun Bruce had made 4/6 from downtown for the game for his 12 points, but his seventh attempt with seven seconds to go wouldn't fall although Sydney still had one more chance after two Ian Clark free-throws with 3.6 seconds left.

Izayah Le'afa's prayer didn’t go and Melbourne won by three to make it four in-a-row to retain top spot at 11-4.

Goulding finished with 28 points on 6/10 three-point shooting with Ili adding 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, Rob Loe 15 points on 5/7 shooting, Jack White 13 points and 12 rebounds while Matthew Dellavedova dished out nine assists.

Goulding will undergo scans to determine the extent of his calf injury.

"I've coached him over eight years and this is one of the most elite patches I've ever seen from him," United coach Dean Vickerman said.

"Unbelievable confidence, which never has wavered too often, and I thought his body was in a really good place.

"We're flat for him because when things are going great like that you just want to keep playing basketball."

The Kings are now 8-7 having split their road double weekend following the win in Cairns on Friday with Cam Oliver again top-scoring with 21 points, six rebounds and six steals on 4/7 three-point shooting.

Alex Toohey sparked his team in the third quarter on his way to 16 points and four assists with Keli Leaulepe adding 11 points, Kouat Noi 12 points, Adams 10 points and eight assists, and Xavier Cooks 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

Kings coach Brian Goorjian took plenty of positives considering his team were down 18 early in the second half and were coming off playing in Cairns on Friday.

"There's a lot to be excited about even though we got smacked in the face," Goorjian said.

"I walk away proud of my team and I thought it was D-Day just from thinking, 'Where do we go from here? Are we going to buckle and say we're not winning this and walk away?'

"A lot of teams on these second games (of road trips) have got beat by 40 and got beat by 25, and I thought that was an easy place for us to go, but we didn't."

The Kings had done well to stick with the tempo United were looking to play at in the first quarter and Sydney even went into quarter-time leading 28-27 on the back of Tyler Robertson hitting a near full-court prayer at the buzzer.

Melbourne took complete control in the second quarter with the home team's offence once again fully clicking as they piled on 38 points in the 10 minutes leading into half-time.

United went into the break leading 65-49 and Chris Goulding was continuing his remarkable run of shooting the basketball hitting another 5/7 from deep in the first half for 20 points.

His team went 10/15 overall from downtown and 69 per cent from the field for the 16-point lead and while things looked bleak for the Kings, they dug deep and turned the momentum their way in the third frame.

Next Star Alex Toohey led the charge with nine of their 26 points for the quarter with Kouat Noi also providing a spark, but more importantly they held United to 14 points at the same time.

That saw Sydney cut Melbourne's lead to just four at three quarter-time and even after United got back out to an eight-point edge early in the fourth, Sydney kept on coming and scored the next five points through Xavier Cooks and Shaun Bruce.

Bruce then hit another three straight out of a timeout to bring the Kings all the way back level with 6:30 to go. That set the stage for the big finish where both teams made big plays, but ultimately United held on for the three-point win icing the game at the stripe.

Melbourne is back in action on Thursday night on the road to New Zealand in Christchurch while the Kings' next opponent is also the Breakers when they face them in Wellington as well on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

MELBOURNE UNITED 101 (Goulding 28, Ili 18, Loe 15)

SYDNEY KINGS 98 (Oliver 21, Toohey 16, Bruce 12, Noi 12)

BOX SCORE