Phoenix win with last momentum swing

The Cairns Taipans turned a 13-point half-time deficit into a seven-point lead after three but then the South East Melbourne Phoenix swung the tide back their way for the eventual 99-94 home victory.

It was a Saturday night game of wild momentum swings with the Taipans dominating the third quarter with 32 points to 12, but the Phoenix responded with 17 of the first 19 points in the fourth to claim the five-point home win.

The Taipans arrived at John Cain Arena on a 10-game losing streak and with the short turnaround following Thursday night's nine-point loss in Hobart to the Tasmania JackJumpers.

The Phoenix were fresh and waiting in their South East Melbourne Magic uniforms having not played since beating the Illawarra Hawks a week earlier, and the home team came out firing.

South East Melbourne produced their best ever first quarter with 39 points and had 63 points in the first half to be 13 points to the good at the break.

However, the Taipans piled on 32 points in the third quarter and the Phoenix offence wilted with just the 12 points.

The Snakes had their own seven-point three quarter-time lead before the Phoenix responded with 24 points to 12 in the last term to improve to 7-8 to break into the top six.

Nathan Sobey put up 26 points with three rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win while Matt Hurt contributed 19 points and 14 rebounds, Angus Glover 16 points, five boards and four assists, and Joe Wieskamp 14 points and four rebounds.

"We were kind of dead in the water at the end of the third," Phoenix coach Josh King said.

"We needed to come back out with some energy and some pop.

"If we didn't, we probably weren't going to win the game."

The Taipans are now 3-12 having lost 11 straight with Rob Edwards producing 24 points and seven rebounds with Taran Armstrong contributing 18 points, six boards and three assists, and Sam Waardenburg 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.

Tanner Groves also ended up with 11 points with Pedro Bradshaw in his second game back from injury having 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"In the first four-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, I counted we had four missed layups, two threes that fell out of the rim," Taipans coach Adam Forde said.

"Then we had confusion on our defensive coverage. We have these lapses that are extremely costly."

The Phoenix made their first break in the contest with an 8-0 run to be leading 13-6 following a three ball from Nathan Sobey and three-point play from Malique Lewis, and they kept the momentum going the rest of the opening term.

South East Melbourne ended up scoring 39 points for the franchise's best ever opening quarter to lead the Taipans by 11 at quarter-time with the Snakes coughing up three turnovers late to compound matters.

The Phoenix got 11 points from Sobey and shot 51 per cent from the floor for the 39 points on the back of attempting 10 extra shots than the Taipans.

The Snakes came out and put up the first nine points of the second quarter to suddenly be back within two to force Josh King into a timeout less than two minutes into the period.

Malique Lewis, Joe Wieskamp and Angus Glover (two) hit threes in response for the Phoenix and Jordan Hunter threw down a massive dunk over Kyrin Galloway to help the home team to the 63-50 lead at half-time.

That was with them still shooting 50 per cent from the field with Wieskamp delivering 14 points, Glover 12 and Sobey still the 11.

The Snakes had come to Melbourne on a mission, though, and they produced a dominant third quarter to put up 32 points and holding South East Melbourne to just the 12 to turn that 13-point half-time deficit into a seven-point three quarter-time lead of their own.

Cairns had all the momentum but it wouldn’t last with South East Melbourne scoring the first nine points of the final term and 17 of the first 19 to open up their open eight-point lead again, and to convert that into the five-point win.

The Phoenix now back up on Thursday night on the road to the Brisbane Bullets to open Round 12 while the Taipans are back home to host the Perth Wildcats next Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 99 (Sobey 26, Hurt 19, Glover 16)

CAIRNS TAIPANS 94 (Edwards 24, Armstrong 18, Waardenburg 14)

BOX SCORE