NBL27 Match Recap - Preseason v New Zealand Breakers

Melbourne United have fallen just short in their final preseason game, going down to the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday evening.

Missing a collection of stars such as Cole Anthony, Josh Oduro, Sam Waardenburg and Shea Ili, United leaned on their depth to produce plays.

The fans in attendance at MSAC were in for a treat early, as Malith Machar put on a dunk show to start the contest.

The athletic wing rose high for a trio of slams for Melbourne United’s opening six points, the last of which came off an alley-oop pass from Luke Travers.

Machar then found Fabijan Krslovic in the corner for a triple, helping United to an early 9-3 advantage.

A pair of elite passes from Chris Goulding leading to scores for Travers and Kyle Bowen kept Melbourne in control, however as the Breakers looked to close the gap, he, along with Joe Ingles, made the most of their looks from downtown.

Ingles made the first from the left wing before Goulding connected from the right, and after a Bowen score on a goaltended layup and Ingles putback, United held onto a slim lead with time running down in the term.

New Zealand were however able to match this, pushing in front 24-25 with a bucket in the final seconds.

Looking to get back in front, Travers continued to build on his strong opening term with a corner three-ball for Melbourne’s first score of the second.

Krslovic followed this up with a layup following some great work on the offensive glass, before another Goulding triple tied up the game.

This was the first of three long-range makes for the sharpshooter in the period, the final two of which came in the last minute prior to half time.

Despite this masterful shooting effort, as well as solid energy plays from the likes of Tom Wilson and training player Will Hynes, United still found themselves trailing at the major break, down 46-53.

While people may have thought sitting through the extended break would have cooled off Goulding, this was not the case, as he connected on his first look to start the third.

This helped kickstart a run from Melbourne, who thanks to a well-rounded attack at both ends, eventually pushed into the lead on the back of free throws from Christian D’Angelo and Jensen Bradtke.

This didn’t last long however, as the Breakers answered with a 6-0 run of their own to take a 70-73 advantage into the final term.

With the game up for grabs, each team worked hard to gain the momentum needed to secure the win.

Trailing by as many as eight points, Krslovic, Goulding and Ingles all produced highlights, cutting the deficit to just three points.

Unfortunately, this would be as close as United would come, as the Breakers held firm to leave Melbourne with a 86-90 win.

FULL STATS AVAILABLE HERE

Melbourne United’s next game is a can’t miss affair for all sports fans, as we host the Adelaide 36ers for the opening game of the Hungry Jack’s NBL27 season on Saturday 19 September inside John Cain Arena.

The contest is sure to be a sell-out, so get in quick to secure your seat today!