NBL27 Match Recap - Preseason v South East Melbourne Phoenix

Melbourne Unitec have fallen short in their second game of the preseason, going down 89-91 against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday evening.

Luke Travers got the game started for Melbourne, using his physicality to get into the paint for the opening score, before Shea Ili showed off his passing skill, finding his Tall Blacks teammate Sam Waardenburg for an and-one finish.

The Phoenix were able to hit back quickly, cashing in on a pair of threes to take the lead.

It remained tight across much of the period, with another Travers layup, along with two strong finishes at the hoop from Fabijan Krslovic keeping United in touch with South East Melbourne’s scoring.

The closing few minutes of the quarter belonged entirely to United, as the visitors put together a 12-3 run to break the game open.

Tom Wilson kick-started this with a transition three-ball before Josh Oduro tallied his first points of the night, connecting on both his looks from the free-throw line.

The big-man followed this up with a blocked shot, which turned into a Chris Goulding left handed layup at the other end.

Unfortunately for the Phoenix, the sharpshooter wasn’t done, splashing a heavily contested triple from the wing to beat the buzzer and give Melbourne a 24-15 advantage after 10 minutes of play.

While United was able to extend their lead out to as many as 13 points thanks to some great play from Oduro, who scored twice at the cup before creating an opportunity for an Ili bucket plays the foul with his hustle on the offensive glass.

Despite this, the Phoenix fought back, orchestrating a run of their own to claw back into the game.

Travers was the man to break a 7-0 run for Melbourne, fighting for a tough floater in the paint, which was followed by a skillful euro-step layup from Christian D’Angelo.

Waardenburg added a basket of his own before late free-throws from him, Ili and Travers kept United in the lead, up 43-41 at the major break.

After two Oduro free throws got the quarter started, the third quarter became the Luke Travers show.

The versatile wing swatted shot at the rim before threading the needle with elite passes on back to back possessions.

This led to a 7-0 start for Melbourne, which after a Phoenix three-ball, Travers added to, finishing two layups in transition to continue building United’s lead.

Corner threes from Joe Ingles and D’Angelo kept this momentum going, while Krslovic scored off an offensive rebound inside.

While everything seemed to be going United’s way, a pair of late mistakes led to six points for the Phoenix in the final 10 seconds of the term, setting the score at 70-60 in Melbourne’s favour with one period remaining.

Needing to execute down the stretch, United looked to their stars.

Goulding got to the line early, opening up space on the perimeter for Ingles, who knocked down his second three of the night.

The star forward then created for his teammates, finding Ili with a great pass under the rim for an easy basket.

A 7-0 Phoenix run followed before D’Angelo found space in the paint again, making a tough layup at the rim.

With the game still up for grabs, Goulding added to his tally, finding success from deep for the second time, however South East Melbourne would not give up, cutting a 10-point advantage to one with 50 seconds remaining.

Late mistakes ultimately proved too costly for United, with the Phoenix able to steal victory in a contest in which they led for less than two minutes, beating Melbourne 91-89.

FULL BOX SCORE HERE

Melbourne United will next play against the Cairns Taipans on 29 August inside Casey Stadium from 6:30pm.

Tickets are available here.