Hamilton's seven threes not enough for JackJumpers

Bryce Hamilton knocked down a season-best seven three-pointers but it wasn’t quite enough for the Tasmania JackJumpers with Kristian Doolittle leading the Perth Wildcats to the 94-85 victory.

The JackJumpers were back in action on Sunday afternoon at MyState Bank Arena for the first time playing in eight days since last Saturday's win in Cairns in what is their first of five games in the space of 11 days to close 2026.

While Tasmania did well in a lot of areas including pulling down 18 offensive rebounds to Perth's 12 and winning the overall rebound count by eight, it was turnovers that proved a major difference.

The JackJumpers had 17 turnovers for the game of which the Wildcats did a good job capitalising on to build a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter and to secure the nine-point road win.

It leaves Tasmania having won just two of nine matches at home this season, of which seven have been at MyState Bank Arena to now sit on an 8-11 record and still in sixth position.

Bryce Hamilton did all he could to give the JackJumpers a chance knocking down 7/10 from three-point territory on his way to 25 points with five rebounds and four assists.

Josh Bannan continued his strong form for Tasmania with 18 points and nine rebounds on 8/12 shooting while his front court partner Will Magnay was limited to 16 minutes with foul trouble for six points, six rebounds and two blocks.

Nick Marshall contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the JackJumpers, Tyger Campbell nine points and two assists, David Johnson seven points, three rebounds and three assists, Ben Ayre six points, and Majok Deng four points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Kristian Doolittle proved to be the major difference between the two teams with the Perth powerhouse delivering 30 points and six rebounds on 12/18 shooting.

David Duke Jr also had 16 points, five assists and four steals, Elijah Pepper 10 points and four rebounds, and Dylan Windler nine points, five boards and three assists before injuring an ankle.

The JackJumpers were playing for the first time in eight days and Josh Bannan and Ben Ayre combined for three triples to open the contest before the home team did score seven straight points shortly before quarter-time.

It was Perth clinging to the 19-18 advantage after the opening 10 minutes, though, before Tyger Campbell opened up the second frame with a pair of bombs from outside for a five-point Tasmania lead.

The Wildcats responded with a 14-4 run to take back their own five-point advantage and by the main break, it was the 'Cats clinging to the 44-42 lead with a couple of threes heading into the half from Bryce Hamilton keeping his team in touch.

Things remained neck and neck through a lot of the third quarter as well until Perth finished it off on a 7-3 run to go into three quarter-time leading 71-64.

The Wildcats then made the match-deciding move to start the fourth frame opening it up with a 10-2 run including three-pointers to Kristian Doolittle and Sunday Dech to push their advantage to 15.

Tasmania did keep fighting the rest of the way but couldn’t manage to get any closer than eight points down the stretch with Perth ending up scoring the nine-point road victory.

The JackJumpers' hectic schedule now sees them play Melbourne United at John Cain Arena on Tuesday before returning to MyState Bank Arena to host the New Zealand Breakers on Boxing Day.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 85 (Hamilton 25, Bannan 18, Marshall 10)

PERTH WILDCATS 94 (Doolittle 30, Duke Jr 16, Lual-Acuil Jr 12)

BOX SCORE