WWAG Match Recap: NBL23 Round 9 v Illawarra Hawks

Written by Melbourne United Media 

Melbourne United have gone down on the road to the Illawarra Hawks in Game two of the LifeChanger Cup Series.

It was a high octane opening term as both sides scored in bunches quickly.

Chris Goulding put in United’s first bucket of the game before knocking down his 998th and 999th career three pointers later in the period.

Supporting CG43 in the scoring department was Rayjon Tucker, who scored eight points of his own on a pair of threes and a break-away dunk.

This play kept Melbourne in front for much of the quarter, however Sam Froling impressed for the Hawks, scoring 16 points in the opening 10 minutes to help the home side take a 25-31 lead into quarter time.

Needing to come out with some fire, United faltered, allowing Illawarra the first four points of the term before Brad Newley put in a tough and-1 layup.

Despite trailing, Melbourne fans did enjoy a brief celebration early in the period, as CG cashed in on a one-legged long-range look, accounting for his 1,000th career three-pointer.

The milestone makes Goulding just the 11th man ever to reach 1,000 three-pointers in NBL history, and the first to do so while playing in the 40-minute era.

This, plus another strong finish from Rayjon Tucker had United within three points of tying the game, however the Hawks stayed hot, extending their lead to eight heading into half-time.

Looking energised by the major break, Melbourne came out firing in the third, scoring the first seven points to cut the Illawarra lead to just one.

With the lead so close, unfortunately for United the home side found the strength to hold them at bay, pushing back to lead by as many as 15-points in the term.

A pair of massive dunks from Marcus Lee buoyed the visitors, however staring down a 13-point deficit going into the fourth quarter, Melbourne found themselves in need of a hero.

United looked poised to make a run to start the final period, attacking the rim and getting to the line, however the side was punished by missed free-throws (six in the fourth quarter, 10 for the game), allowing the Hawks to keep control of the lead.

Rayjon Tucker did his best to keep Melbourne in the game, knocking down a pair of triples, as well as a huge slam on his way to a career-high 27 points, but in the end it was not enough, with Melbourne falling by 14 points.

United’s next game will be a clash with the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday 10 December at John Cain Arena.

This will be the first time this season Melbourne and Brisbane will face off. Tickets remain available here.