JackJumpers shine under the Melbourne stars

The roof was open and the Tasmania JackJumpers adjusted accordingly to make it a focus of attacking the rim and being aggressive, and they were rewarded with a dominant 92-73 road win over Melbourne United.

It was the last game for the JackJumpers ahead of Christmas when they took on their old foes United at John Cain Arena on Tuesday night looking to bounce back from a home loss to Perth on Sunday.

What Tasmania produced was a dominant showing in a lot of areas including taking charge in the third quarter with a 15-0 scoring run and opening it up by scoring 21 of the first 25 points to build a 20-plus point lead.

The JackJumpers never let up either to end up winning by 19 points to make it four of the last six games of the season to improve to a 9-11 record and steady in sixth position.

By the end of the night, the JackJumpers had collected 51 rebounds 31 including 14 at the offensive end to five while they put away the three ball for the most part where they went 4/17 to end up shooting 29/52 inside the arc and then 22/31 at the foul line.

Tyger Campbell was back into the starting five for Tasmania and he made a fast start to the game and kept it going on his way to 20 points with six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks on 8/11 field goal shooting.

Bryce Hamilton delivered another 18 points, four rebounds and two assists while fellow import David Johnson scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter on 6/11 shooting.

Josh Bannan had another double-double for 12 points, 12 rebounds and three assists with Nick Marshall contributing nine points and two boards, Will Magnay nine points and 10 rebounds, Ben Ayre four points and three steals, and Majok Deng two points, five rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

It was a strong defensive showing from Tasmania to hold Melbourne to 73 points on 36 per cent shooting including Chris Goulding going 1/9 for four points. Former JackJumper Milton Doyle had 13 points with Jesse Edwards adding 13 while Tyson Walker top-scored with 15.

Melbourne did get off to a good start to lead 6-2 early before Tasmania steadied into the contest and that turned into a 14-3 run to see the JackJumpers open up a 16-9 advantage on the back of seven straight points from Tyger Campbell who returned to start.

The JackJumpers were still leading 22-19 by quarter-time with the nine points from Campbell and the team was shooting 56 per cent from the field while not giving up an on offensive rebound on Melbourne's 10 missed shots.

The JackJumpers then blew the game out to start the second quarter with a 7-2 run to open up an eight-point lead but Melbourne did hang in there with Tasmania going into the half-time break leading 42-39 with 12 extra rebounds and six more offensive boards key to that.

It was a domination in the third quarter then from the JackJumpers as they held Melbourne to just two field goals and nine points the entire 10 minutes.

Up the other end, Tasmania opened up with a 6-2 run and then they scored 15 straight points including Bryce Hamilton hitting seven of those points and Campbell another four as suddenly the lead got out to 20.

It was still a 17-point lead by three quarter-time before the JackJumpers kept the momentum going with another 5-0 run to start the fourth frame with the lead out to 22.

David Johnson then got on a roll late before Nick Stoddart closed the game scoring at the buzzer with the JackJumpers completing the emphatic 19-point pre-Christmas win under the stars.

The JackJumpers now get to enjoy Christmas back home having played on the day the past two years and will then host the New Zealand Breakers at MyState Bank Arena on Boxing Day.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 92 (Campbell 20, Hamilton 18, Johnson 14)

MELBOURNE UNITED 73 (Walker 15, Doyle 13, Edwards 13)

BOX SCORE