Deng catches fire but JackJumpers fall to Phoenix

Majok Deng was on fire with 20 points in the first quarter on his way to a career-best 36 but in the end the South East Melbourne Phoenix's hot shooting was too much as they downed the Tasmania JackJumpers 120-104.

The JackJumpers came into the contest at John Cain Arena on Saturday night buoyed by the news that with New Zealand's loss earlier in Adelaide, they were guaranteed of sixth position and being part of the finals once more.

On the back of that, Deng came out with a scintillating opening quarter where he put up 20 points while shooting 5/5 from the field, 3/3 from behind the three-point line, and 7/7 at the charity stripe.

The JackJumpers ended up leading by as much as nine points too on the back of that, but the Phoenix worked their way on top and were leading 67-56 at half-time while going 14/24 from three-point land including a combined 8/11 from Ian Clark and Angus Glover.

Tasmania continued to fight it out valiantly and despite at one stage falling 26 points down, cut the final margin back to 16 in the penultimate game of the regular season for them.

On the back of his 20-point first quarter, Deng had a career-best performance in his 280th NBL appearance with 36 points, nine rebounds and three assists on 11/14 field goal shooting with 4/6 from long-range and 10/10 at the foul line.

Front court partner Josh Bannan finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists with Anthony Drmic adding 11 points on 4/5 shooting, and Tyger Campbell 10 points, nine assists and three rebounds.

David Johnson also had eight points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals, Nick Stoddart seven points and two assists, and Brody Nunn four points, a rebound and an assist.

The Phoenix ended up shooting 20/46 from behind the three-point arc while ending up with 32 assists and 13 offensive rebounds with just the 10 turnovers in what proved to be a winning formula for the third ranked team.

Angus Glover went 7/10 from downtown for 21 points while Nathan Sobey ended up with 19 points, Malique Lewis 15, Ian Clark 14, Akech Aliir 11, Jordan Hunter 11, John Brown III 11, Owen Foxwell nine and Wes Iwundu nine.

South East Melbourne hit a couple of early three-pointers but that Majok Deng began to warm up with three rapid fire three-point bombs. When he scored closer to the rack soon after, suddenly he had 11 points and the JackJumpers were leading 16-9.

Deng then knocked down three free throws, scored inside again and then went 2/2 at the charity stripe to be up to 18 points with the JackJumpers opening up a nine-point lead.

Despite Deng ending up with the 20 first-quarter points on perfect shooting from the field and at the line, Tasmania were only leading 34-32 with the Phoenix going 6/12 from downtown themselves.

Deng then went to 22 points to start the second quarter, but then South East Melbourne worked on top with 13 straight points and they were soon leading by 12 on the back five three-point makes in no time combined through Angus Glover, Wes Iwundu and Malique Lewis.

The JackJumpers responded well with David Johnson hitting a couple of three balls then Deng made a couple of buckets on his way to 26 points in the first half, but South East Melbourne scored the last six points to be leading 67-56 by the half-time interval.

The Phoenix also came out of the blocks quickly to start the second half with the first seven points with their lead out to 18 before six quick points to Tasmania from Nick Marshall.

An Owen Foxwell triple on three quarter-time saw South East Melbourne's lead out to 23 with them already having 102 points on the board, but as you would expect, the JackJumpers fought out the game strongly.

Tasmania outscored South East Melbourne 25 to 18 in the final period including Deng continuing his merry way for a career-best night while Brody Nunn also capped off an 8-0 run before the Phoenix secured the 16-point victory.

The JackJumpers are now guaranteed of being part of the finals and their last regular season game will be back at MyState Bank Arena on Wednesday night against the defending champion Illawarra Hawks.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26 – ROUND 21

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 104 (Deng 36, Bannan 15, Marshall 13)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 120 (Glover 21, Sobey 19, Lewis 15)

BOX SCORE