South East Melbourne Phoenix have responded to one of the rockiest periods in club history by breaking their long NBL drought with a spirited 93-84 upset win over Melbourne United.
At a sold-out John Cain Arena on Sunday, the Phoenix found themselves 10 points in arrears in the second quarter, during which they lost their star import point guard Derrick Walton Jr to a strained right hamstring, but they thoroughly outplayed the heavily favoured United down the stretch.
Captain Jordan Hunter (20 points), import Matt Hurt (18) and revitalised guard Nathan Sobey (16) paved the path for Phoenix to deliver a first-up win for caretaker coach Sam Mackinnon.
It was a great start for MacKinnon, who took over the coaching reins after Mike Kelly was sacked last Sunday after the club's 0-5 start to the season, on the back of last season's wooden spoon.
"It's been a clearly well-documented tough year," Mackinnon said.
"(We focused on) getting the group together, gelling and forgetting about last week.
"Getting the chance to best imprint how I want us to play, our style, level of intensity and commitment, the guys have been fantastic."
Ian Clark (19 points) and Chris Goulding (16), who returned to the starting five in place of Shea Ili (calf), paced United to an 18-16 lead at quarter-time.
Melbourne's attack began really clicking in the second term, their lead swelling to double digits.
There was some typical Throwdown spice when rival captains Goulding and Hunter tangled arms under the basket. It looked accidental and relatively innocuous, but was enough for the irate United skipper to stalk referee Chris Read and exclaim: "That could end my career."
Phoenix boosted their physicality and shooting accuracy in the second stanza, turning the tables on "big brother" and a 10-point deficit into a five-point half-time advantage. X-factor Tom Vodanovich's three triples inside two minutes off the bench were decisive.
Walton's third-quarter exit posed a challenge, but the Phoenix refused to wilt.
Sobey picked off an errant Jack White pass down the stretch and finished with a breakaway slam to increase Phoenix's buffer to eight points.
Melbourne hit back late, with Tanner Krebs' triple on the cusp of three-quarter-time scaling SEM's lead back to 63-60 at the break, which soon became 71-70.
Hurt and Sobey came up with a series of big plays late to ward off any hope of a late Melbourne miracle.
"We couldn't put enough pressure on the ball, which allowed them to get their spots a bit better," United coach Dean Vickerman said.
"Credit to their defence, they slowed us down and we didn't create the advantages we wanted."
