South East Melbourne Phoenix have shown why they are a top four outfit with a comprehensive 76-63 NBL win over the Tasmania JackJumpers at Hobart.
Bouncing back from last weekend's loss to Brisbane, the Phoenix (4-2) outscored the hosts 32-15 in the third quarter to ice the victory at MyState Bank Arena on Sunday.
Simon Mitchell's side trailed 38-35 at halftime after Zhou Qi was limited to only two points by JackJumpers big man Will Magnay but he rallied to score another 16 in the second stanza.
The Chinese international finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and two blocks while Phoenix teammate Mitch Creek led all scorers with 19 points, three rebounds and two assists.
South East Melbourne dominated rebounds 59-35.
"I thought it was massive improvements on the defensive end, to hold Tassie to 63 is a great result for us as a group and just the way we rebounded the ball," Phoenix guard Kyle Adnam told reporters.
"We've responded (to Brisbane loss) so that was really, really great from the boys, but we've got to do it again Tuesday night against Cairns."
Playing in their first game since January 1, JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said his side showed signs of rust after they slumped to a 2-6 record.
"I thought we handled ourselves very well early on with a lot of energy and a lot of passion to play and yeah, it was a difficult game," he said.
"It's a building block and we just have to continue to keep working."
Magnay was a bright spark for Tasmania with 10 points, eight rebounds and a game high five blocks with Clint Steindl bagging 16 points off the bench in his 22 minutes.
