JackJumpers fall short in Silverdome shootout

The South East Melbourne Phoenix held on 103-102 in a Launceston thriller but it was a vastly improved Silverdome Tasmania JackJumpers performance with Bryce Hamilton showing the way with 36 points.

The JackJumpers were trying to avoid an eighth loss in 10 games at The Silverdome and to respond to Saturday's loss to the Cairns Taipans and they put on an offensive show especially in the first half.

Tasmania went into half-time leading 61-60 on 73 per cent shooting with 6/7 from deep and with Hamilton having 19 of those points, Majok Deng 12 and Josh Bannan 11.

The game went down to the wire and the JackJumpers did score the last six points but just fell one-point short in the finish.

It was an impressive offensive display from Tasmania as they ended up shooting 53 per cent from the field while making 9/20 from behind the arc and 21/26 at the foul line.

They also won the rebound count by seven and forced the Phoenix into 19 turnovers despite the eventual one-point defeat.

Hamilton had the best game of his NBL career with a spectacular showing made up of 36 points, eight rebounds and five assists on shooting 16/23 from the floor and 4/7 from deep while not getting to the foul line once.

Deng put up 17 points with six rebounds and three steals while Bannan contributed 15 points, 10 boards, two assists and two steals, and Will Magnay eight points, two rebounds and two blocks.

Tyger Campbell provided eight points and three assists, Ben Ayre eight points and five rebounds, Nick Marshall seven points, five rebounds and three assists, and Nick Stoddart three points, four assists and three boards while his team was +17 with him out there.

Nathan Sobey and Malique Lewis combined to shoot 10/15 from three-point territory for South East Melbourne with Sobey finishing with 28 points and four assists, and Next Star Lewis 23 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Owen Foxwell also had 15 points and five steals, Wes Iwundu 11 points, and John Brown III 10 points and 14 rebounds of which eight were offensive.

The JackJumpers started impressively with the first four points from Bryce Hamilton and Tyger Campbell but the Phoenix then caught fire with Malique Lewis scoring 10 quick points for the visitors to be leading 19-10.

Tasmania hit back and a couple of three balls from Hamilton and then one each to Ben Ayre and Majok Deng saw them right back in the contest despite South East Melbourne leading 32-29 by quarter-time.

The scoring continued in the second quarter from both teams as they combined for another 60 points and just as the Phoenix opened up a six-point lead midway through, Tasmania went on an impressive run.

It started when Hamilton picked Hunter Maldonado's pocket and laid it up before Tasmania scored 12 of the next 14 points to open up a four-point lead, and to still be narrowly leading 61-60 by the half-time break with Hamilton's 19 points showing the way.

The JackJumpers also scored the first four points of the second half but the lead continued to exchange hands right through the third term even if the scoring rate wasn’t quite at the same level.

The JackJumpers scored the last seven points heading into three quarter-time to turn a four-point deficit into a three-point lead but scores were back level at the opening of the fourth frame thanks to an Owen Foxwell long ball.

The rollercoaster ride continued and with just over four minutes to play, Tasmania were back in front thanks to another bucket from Hamilton before South East Melbourne responded with the next seven points.

That lead for the Phoenix was out to seven with a minute to play but the game wasn’t done yet with the JackJumpers able to force some turnovers, and then Josh Bannan and Hamilton combined to score six points to make it a one-point game.

Nathan Sobey then threw the ball out of bounds with 15 seconds to go and the JackJumpers got a good look at the tying basket with Ben Ayre catching it in the corner, but it just rimmed out and Tasmania couldn’t quite come up with something with 0.1 left on the final possession.

The JackJumpers remain in Tasmania but are back at MyState Bank Arena now on Saturday to play host to the Brisbane Bullets looking to arrest the three-game losing slide.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 102 (Hamilton 36, Deng 17, Bannan 15)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 103 (Sobey 28, Lewis 23, Foxwell 15)

BOX SCORE