The Tasmania JackJumpers' bold push for an NBL top-two finish has come up short despite an emphatic 94-67 win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix, but coach Scott Roth remains proud of his team's achievements.
Saturday's win over the short-handed Phoenix in Melbourne kept the pressure on second-placed Perth Wildcats going into their penultimate game.
But the Wildcats were able to lock away a top-two finish when they downed the Cairns Taipans 117-88 at home later on Saturday night.
Roth was proud his third-placed JackJumpers (15-12) were assured of extending the young club's record of winning seasons.
"The biggest thing is that I'm super-proud of this particular group because this is our third year in a row of posting a winning season," he said.
"I don't think it's ever been done by an expansion team, so for us to do that three years in a row in this type of leagur.
"It was a little choppy for us during the course of the season, I'm super-proud to get 15 wins and finish in the top three."
The odds were stacked against South East Melbourne despite being at home at John Cain Arena, with the Phoenix sitting last and missing key players Mitch Creek, Gary Browne, Alan Williams, Craig Moller and Owen Foxwell.
And that's how it panned out, with the Phoenix unable to remain competitive.
Making matters worse for the Phoenix was the ejection of coach Mike Kelly in the third quarter, with referee Marc Mill quick on the trigger to call two technical fouls in a matter of seconds.
Assistant Sam Mackinnon, who briefly coached Brisbane last season, took over for the rest of the game but the JackJumpers weren't about to show any mercy as they put together a strong four-quarter display.
Inconsistent for much of the campaign, Tasmania had two strong wins last week to all but end the seasons of Cairns and Adelaide.
That momentum continued in Melbourne on Saturday and they face the Wildcats at home next Saturday in their final regular-season game.
It was a strong all-round showing from the JackJumpers, seven players scoring in double-figures but nobody with more than the 11 points registered by Clint Steindl, Will Magnay, Sean Macdonald and Jack McVeigh.
Jordon Crawford, Anthony Drmic and Marcus Lee added 10 points apiece.
The Phoenix stuck with the JackJumpers for the first quarter but the longer it went, the more it blew out; despite 19 points from import Abdel Nader.
Ben Ayre led the offence without Foxwell and Browne for 13 points, with encouraging signs from young big man Anzac Rissetto who grabbed eight points and four rebounds.
"I felt like tonight didn't go very well," an understated Kelly said.
"They basically beat us in pretty much every category after the first quarter and that was the disappointing thing."
