Mitsubishi Match Recap: NBL25 Round 9 v Adelaide 36ers

Melbourne United have won a hotly contested matchup with the Adelaide 36ers.

After giving up the first four points of the game, United kicked into gear, smothering the Sixers on defence while getting good shots at the other end.

Melbourne’s entire lineup got involved, scoring in close and from long range to orchestrate a 13-0 run and take control of the term.

While Adelaide were able to hit back, reducing the margin to three-points, a trio of three-pointers from Ian Clark, Kyle Bowen and Chris Goulding; the third of which came on the buzzer, propelled United back up 29-22 after to close the quarter.

This hot shooting continued in the second period, as Melbourne’s shooters combined for six more long-range makes.

Inside the arc, Akech Aliir made his presence felt, rising high for a putback dunk to bring the John Cain Arena crowd to their feet.

This strong play has United up by as many as 15 points, however the visitors were able to trim down the deficit, mainly at the free-throw line.

Despite this, one buzzer-beater for the game wasn’t enough for Goulding, as he came off a screen to connect on another triple as time expired, giving Melbourne a 59-46 advantage going into the major break.

It was more of the same coming out of half-time, as United executed well on both ends to hold off the Sixers whenever they made a run.

Flynn Cameron was elite in the third term, knocking down four three-pointers and fighting hard on defence.

Dellavedova and Goulding also connected from deep, with the former bringing up his 100th triple across his NBL career.

An incident between Montrezl Harrell and Shea Ili resulted in both players being ejected towards the conclusion of the period.

United was however able to maintain their lead, staying in front by 12 points with 10 minutes remaining.

Needing poise to secure the win, Melbourne were able to weather a hot-finishing Adelaide side.

With their lead down to just five points, United’s stars kicked into gear as Cameron and Clark got hot from deep.

Cameron in particular was fantastic, finishing with a career-high 21 points and seven three-point makes.

Ultimately, Melbourne excelled finishing the contest, coming away with a 113-93 victory.

This was United’s third straight victory and has the side go into the FIBA Window on top of the NBL25 ladder.