JackJumpers Deliver at Home to Force Game 3

Scoring on Melbourne United is the toughest job in the NBL and has been for some time, but Josh Magette and MiKyle McIntosh broke the shackles in the final three minutes on Saturday to lead the Tasmania JackJumpers to an historic 79-72 Game 2 semi-final victory.

It was a remarkable performance from the JackJumpers to win 17 games in their inaugural NBL season. It was even more incredible that they made the finals in their first season. But then they found the going tough in Game 1 against the defending champions on Thursday night with Melbourne winning 74-63.

That meant Tasmania had to win in front of a sold out MyState Bank Arena on Saturday night to extend their semi-final to a decider in Melbourne on Monday, and in the grind of a contest that was expected they got the job done.

And after struggling against the physical and impressive United defence so far in the series, it was Magette and McIntosh who came up huge to combine for Tasmania's final 12 points of the game to help deliver the seven-point victory.

Melbourne led 68-67 with a chance to move straight into the Grand Final in front of them, but then Magette hit the next five points. 

McIntosh then scored the JackJumpers' next five, and then Magette closed the deal at the foul line and we're going to Game 3.

After losing the rebound battle by 20 in Game 1, the JackJumpers had 38 boards to 41 from Melbourne on Saturday night while limiting United to shooting 6/34 at 17 per cent from beyond the arc.

Jack McVeigh again came up huge for Tasmania with 15 points while MiKyle McIntosh added 15 points in just 16 minutes of court time.

Josh Magette finished with 12 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists, Clint Steindl 11 points, and Matt Kenyon 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.

JackJumpers coach Scott Roth couldn’t have been prouder of his team just as he has been all season.

"I'm not satisfied but the building was electric and these guys have done the work all year, and deserved to be in this position for all the hard work they've done," Roth said. 

"They continue to just fight and scrap, and defend the island. Obviously I'm just super proud of the group for their effort and fight, and that's all we were looking for this evening to be the most competitive on the floor. 

"It was a heck of a game and another old school kind of back and forth with heavy hitters going both ways. It's just a great environment for Tasmania and I'm proud to be here representing this state, and we're not done."

Chris Goulding top-scored for Melbourne with 18 points despite shooting 6/17 from the field and 3/12 from beyond the arc. Jo Lual-Acuil added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks, and Caleb Agada 14 points, five boards and three assists.

United coach Dean Vickerman knew it was always going to be a defensive grind but felt his team still had their chances to close it out.

"The physicality they came out with in the first was another level and something similar to the way we played at home. It's tough to get a really good look and we still held them to 17, but we were struggling to get points in that back half of the first quarter," Vickerman said.

"Then I felt once we went up a level and stopped them getting some offensive rebounds and second shots, we kind of had that even contest at half-time when we made our way back. 

"We found some offensive sets that were pretty good and Delly did a good job of getting us organised, and obviously the three ball wasn’t going good for us. So it was about trying to find ways to free up the perimeter and we found a set that was pretty good for it. 

"And we got to the last five minutes of the game and McVeigh makes two tough threes, Magette, McVeigh and McIntosh all make contested fadeaways in the paint. Sometimes you have to live with those things but we still had our chance there."

Matthew Dellavedova again started well and opened the scoring and before long Melbourne led 6-2, but MyState Bank Arena erupted when Fabijan Krslovic finished strongly inside in his 100th NBL game.

He converted the three-point play before the JackJumpers locked in defensively and knocked down some shots including a three ball from captain Clint Steindl. They held United to their lowest first quarter of the season of just 12 points to lead by five after one.

Jarred Bairstow and Steindl then combined to give Tasmania a 21-12 lead early in the second quarter before Melbourne got a steadying and-one from MVP candidate Jo Lual-Acuil.

Tasmania was using the momentum of their crowd, though, and when Matt Kenyon hit their second triple of the game, the margin was out to 11 points.

Melbourne only had 19 points in almost a quarter and-a-half of play but they got some offensive momentum with 15 points to close out the half even though the JackJumpers still led 38-34 at the break.

Neither team shot great with Tasmania going 13/34 from the field and 3/14 from deep with Melbourne going 14/36 and 1/13, and it was still up for grabs at the half.

Things heated up in the third quarter as you'd expect and the bigger the moment the more it's made for the United captain. Goulding knocked down a pair of triples to make it a two-point ball game after United started off 1/16 from beyond the arc.

When he nailed another heading towards three quarter-time scores were tied and soon after a Caleb Agada gave Melbourne the lead. By the end of three, the stage was set with scores tied at 59-59.

Jack McVeigh was made for moments like this and he delivered two massive threes from way downtown to give the JackJumpers the lead again. Soon after it was Josh Magette who broke the shackles with five quick points for a four-point Tasmania lead with two minutes on the clock.

It was then McIntosh time. The powerhouse played bully ball to score the two biggest buckets of his season to hit five points in the space of 36 seconds for the JackJumpers to lead by five, and end up winning by seven.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL FINALS – SEMI FINALS GAME 2

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 79 (McVeigh 15, McIntosh 13, Magette 12)

MELBOURNE UNITED 72 (Goulding 18, Agada 14, Lual-Acuil 13) 

Best-of-three series is tied at 1-1

BOX SCORE