WWAG NBL24 Match Recap - Championship Game 4 vs Tasmania JackJumpers

Melbourne United have overcome the Tasmania JackJumpers in Game 4 of the NBL24 Championship series, forcing a decisive Game 5 on Sunday back at John Cain Arena.

A Luke Travers layup got Melbourne going in front of the hostile MyState Bank Arena crowd before Chris Goulding splashed his first three-pointer of the evening.

In what was a back-and-forth period of hoops, the JackJumpers pulled ahead and captured the early advantage, taking a three-point lead into quarter time.

Looking to fight back, Melbourne started the second with force through Travers and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.

Tasmania answered swiftly, scoring 10 unanswered points to regain control of the contest.

Not willing to go away, Goulding and Ian Clark went to work, with the former connecting on a pair of jumpers while the latter got into the paint for layups and floaters.

JLA followed this up with an and-1 finish at the hoop, giving Melbourne a 41-39 advantage at half-time.

Taking advantage of the home crowd, Tasmania went on a run to start the third, putting together an 8-0 run before Clark’s layup brought their momentum to a dead stop.

Two more Goulding triples tied the game, while the rest of United’s stars kept the game tight for the remainder of the period.

Trailing by one, a Matthew Dellavedova on the buzzer gave Melbourne the lead heading into the final 10 minutes of action.

Needing their best to secure the win, United came out of three-quarter time on fire, connecting on four three pointers to pull ahead by four points.

A 9-0 run from Tasmania pulled some of the momentum back in favour of the home side, however clutch play after clutch play from Dellavedova gave Melbourne a one-point advantage with seven seconds remaining.

Needing a stop, Lual-Acuil Jr came up with a huge play, stealing the inbounds pass and saving it to Ian Clark, who’s final-second free-throw gave United a two-point lead as time ran down.

Tasmania’s final shot was off the mark, securing the victory for Melbourne and forcing Game 5 on Sunday back at John Cain Arena at 4pm.

For all your Game 5 info, head to our NBL24 Finals Hub.