Total team effort powers United past the Hawks

Melbourne United continued their winnings ways with a strong win over the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday afternoon at John Cain Arena.

Making it eight wins in a row, United shot the lights out from the opening tip in a performance that highlighted their tremendous depth.

United young gun Mason Peatling set the tone early for his team with great energy and when he connected on a triple after two and a half minutes of play, Melbourne held an early 9-4 lead.

That Peatling three was the first of many long-range shots for United in the first quarter as the team came out firing. Back-to-back triples from Chris Goulding halfway through the term had Melbourne leading by nine points, 20-11.

For Illawarra, it was Sam Froling and AJ Ogilvy who kept their team in it despite the incredible shooting display by Melbourne. Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. came in and provided buckets late in the quarter and at the first break, United held a 30-21 lead after shooting a ridiculous 12/14 from the field.

Lual-Acuil Jr. continued to go to work on the offensive end in the second term with a pair of early buckets but Justinian Jessup stepped up for the Hawks with three buckets in a row, including two three-pointers, to have Illawarra within touch.

A beautiful no-look pass from Mitch McCarron to Jock Landale for the dunk had the John Cain Arena crowd on their feet and when Yudai Baba hit a three with four minutes to play in the first half, United’s lead jumped out to 14 points, 47-33.

Shea Ili and Lual-Acuil Jr. featured heavily in the final minutes of the second term and at the main break, Melbourne held a 14-point lead, 56-42. Lual-Acuil Jr. (14 points and 4 rebounds), Peatling (9 points) and Landale (5 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists) led the way for United, while Tyler Harvey (12 points) was the Hawks leading scorer.

After Landale filled the box score in the first half, he continued to do the heavy lifting in the third quarter with a big and-1 play and when Goulding drained his third triple of the afternoon halfway through the term, Melbourne’s lead was 13 points, 66-53.

Scotty Hopson drained a triple and when Baba took the ball the length of the floor with blistering speed to finish a layup through contact, United led by 16 points, 74-58. A stunning spin move and score by McCarron was the final bucket of the term and at the last break, United led by 15 points, 76-51.

The fourth quarter was a defensive slog as both teams made it tough for the other to score. With the big lead, that was all that United needed as they kept the Hawks at bay.

Despite scoring just seven points in the first seven minutes of the term, Melbourne’s lead continued to hover around the 10-point mark and when Goulding scored a long two-pointer with 2:30 left in the game, United had a 12-point lead, 85-73.

Eventually, Melbourne ran out 87-76 winners courtesy of a total team effort with seven players scoring at least 8 points. Landale lodged yet another double-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, while Lual-Acuil Jr. (15 points and 7 rebounds) and Goulding (11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists) were vital.

Jessup (19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists) and Harvey (17 points, 3 assists and 3 steals) were best for Illawarra.

Melbourne’s win was powered by a dominance in rebounding and bench scoring. United out-rebounded the Hawks by 17, 46-29, while their bench was on fire with 40 points, compared to Illawarra’s 14 points by reserves.

With their eighth win on the trot, United now owns an 18-5 record and their next assignment is a clash against the Adelaide 36ers at John Cain Arena on Saturday evening. Tip off is at 5:30pm. BUY TICKETS HERE.