Goulding, Rathan-Mayes tandem lifts United
MELBOURNE United has escaped from a topsy-turvy overtime dogfight with reenergised New Zealand to open its season with a nailbiting 101-97 win.
A devastating one-two offensive punch from captain Chris Goulding and import guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes kept United in touch with the Breakers, before the Canadian took over in the last, scoring nine of his 33 points to kill it off in the extra period.
Goulding sandwiched a pair of threes with three free throws to register the first nine of the last quarter for United to open up a seven-point lead.
Former Phoenix man Izayah Le’Afa scored six straight to make things interesting and as Rathan-Mayes left a pair of freebies at the line, import Barry Brown Jr tied the scores at 88 with 9.1 seconds left. The clash went to overtime after a Goulding game-winning try was off target.
Marquee import Rayjon Tucker took time to find his feet, but a nifty floater in the lane put United up two at the start of extra time, and then he fed Rathan-Mayes for a straightaway three. XRM franked that with another three from the same spot, this time off the dribble.
But Brown converted an and-one and then Tom Voforced danovich drilled a three of his own to tie it up again. RathanMayes hit back – again – with his eighth straight point for United, before he and Tucker iced it at the free throw line – each splitting a pair.
Goulding drained six threes on his way to 24 points and Rathan-Mayes laced his gamehigh 33 with nine assists and five rebounds. For the Breakers, imports Dererk Pardon and Brown Jr had 23 each.
SHEA AWAY
WITH reigning Sixth Man of the Year Shea Ili out with concussion, Rathan-Mayes was
into big minutes – and he did plenty with them. But United missed the poise and perimeter defence of Ili, coach Vickerman forced to call on inexperienced replacement player Lachie Barker to fill the back-up point guard minutes. It started disastrously for the NBL1 jet, with a pair of turnovers, but he quickly hit a three-pointer to make up for it. Good experience for Barker — but Shea is needed.
DUNK CITY
THEY don’t call it Dunk City for nothing. Hyper-athletic guard Tucker gave hoops fans a taste for what they’d be in for in NBL23, with a rim-rocking two-handed jam, courtesy of an off-the-backboard alleyoop from Rathan-Mayes that blew the roof off JCA.
YAP IT UP
WHEN Brown Jr splashed his second three for his eighth first-quarter point in a row, he appeared to run at the United bench and had plenty to say. The Florida native looks a walking bucket with super range and isn’t short of a word, yapping after every basket.
Tucker and Pardon then had words coming together as the buzzer sounded on the first. The NZ big man was unhappy with his rival’s physicality. It might not have been necessary from Tucker but Pardon will need to get used to it in the NBL.