United fights back for win
NBL champion Melbourne United has pulled off a thrilling second-half comeback to defeat Cairns 87-80.
Backing up from Thursday night’s loss to Illawarra in Wollongong, United scored the final eight points yesterday at Melbourne Arena to come out on top in a see-sawing battle.
Casper Ware (34 points, six assists) gave Melbourne an 81-80 lead with 32 seconds to play and DJ Kennedy stole the ball on the Taipans’ next possession, extending the lead to three from the foul line.
Kennedy grabbed a defensive rebound and dribbled the length of the court to slam home, Mitch McCarron (16 points, nine rebounds) adding a pair of free throws to cap the win.
United was slow out of the blocks, shooting oneof-14 from long range in the first half, while being outscored 21-5 in bench points, but pulled off a 17-6 run after falling behind by 12 in the second half.
Looking to snap a five- match losing streak, Cairns led 55-43 in the third quarter but could not close out the match in the final minutes.
Veteran forward David Barlow was carried from the court after twisting his knee in the third quarter but returned to help United’s second-half charge. Chris Goulding made his return from a knee injury, finishing with four points in 26 minutes.
United scored the first eight points of the match but went cold from outside as the visitors inched their way to the lead thanks to Nathan Jawai’s strength around the basket.
The home side jumped ahead by five in the second quarter but Cairns import Devon Hall found his shooting touch with an eight-point burst and DJ Newbill’s late triple put the Taipans ahead 46-43 at halftime.
Cairns’ Trimble scored five points in a 7-0 start to the third quarter to extend the lead into double digits.
But the home side sparked into action as they cut the gap to one point before Cairns rallied to take a 67-62 edge into the final term.