Shared confidence fuelled career night for Bowen

Since arriving at Melbourne United, Kyle Bowen has been fully committed to doing everything in his power to help the team win.

Usually, that entails rebounding hard and locking down opposing forwards, however on Friday night, the St Mary’s product stepped up in the scoring department when called upon.

Frequently left open by the JackJumpers on the perimeter, Bowen cashed in on three of his five attempts from deep, ultimately finishing with 17 points in 13 minutes of play, eclipsing his highest scoring efforts as a pro or in college.

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Speaking after the game, ‘KB’ said it was important to prove to himself and other teams that he has to be respected from beyond the arc, and praised his teammates for their unwavering confidence in him.

“Just to not only be able to prove to other teams, but prove to myself that I can hit the open shot (is important),” he said.

“I had this one circled because I missed two wide open one’s at our place when we played Tasmania last time so I’m glad I stepped up with some confidence.

“That comes from Dean and the team just telling me to let it fly and get it up, but more importantly we walked into a hostile environment tonight and the team stepped up when we needed to.”

Eight games into his career at MU, Bowen is averaging 4.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

Looking at his decision to sign with United, the bruising forward says he couldn’t be happier.

“I’m loving Melbourne, I’m loving the team, from day one I’ve had no regrets,” he continued.

“I’m loving the situation… The NBL is a super physical league and it’s something I’ve had my eye on to come and play in and it's just been amazing so far.

“I’m loving the road trips, we’re undefeated on the road and that’s something that’s really important to us but at John Cain Arena our fans are amazing.

“They’re super loud every night, we;ve got another game on Sunday and hopefully we can get the same result.”

Bowen will be hoping to hear that same energy he’s come to expect at MU home games on Sunday afternoon when the team faces the Illawarra Hawks at 2pm at John Cain Arena.

The contest will be a celebration of the 30 year anniversary of the Melbourne Tigers’ inaugural championship victory.

To make sure you don’t miss a second of the action, secure your seat now!