Marshall the hero as JackJumpers deliver miracle

The grit and grind Tasmania JackJumpers spirit was never more evident than overcoming a 16-point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Sydney Kings 90-89 with Nick Marshall the last gasp hero in a stunning finish.

The JackJumpers were playing their first game since losing last Friday night away to the New Zealand Breakers as they took on the Kings on Sunday at Qudos Bank Arena.

Tasmania found themselves staring down a 16-point deficit early in the fourth quarter, but showed their trademark grit and grind from there to outscore the Kings 20 points to four the rest of the way.

That included 10 straight points up to when there was 7.6 seconds left on the clock after Ben Ayre made two critical free throws.

That's when the drama really ratcheted up with Kouat Noi missing two free throws for Sydney and then Josh Bannan and Will Magnay fumbled the rebound for the JackJumpers giving the Kings another chance.

This time, Xavier Cooks' attempted inbounds pass was intercepted by Magnay, he got it to Ayre and he passed it to Marshall who made a hero of himself to attack the rim and finish coolly for the game winner as time expired.

Marshall ended the game with 14 points and four rebounds with his winning basket improving the JackJumpers to 5-3 on the season.

Tasmania finished the game shooting 54 per cent from the field despite going 4/17 from downtown, but they had a strong focus to go inside and also got to the line 25 times where they made 20 of their foul shots.

With that inside focus, Josh Bannan finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and two assists for the JackJumpers with captain Will Magnay delivering 15 points, five boards and four blocked shots.

Bryce Hamilton also had 18 points on 8/13 shooting before fouling out with fellow import Tyger Campbell ending up with 10 points and seven assists while Ben Ayre had nine points, and Majok Deng four points, five rebounds and three assists in his return.

The Kings did end up with 19 offensive rebounds and took 15 more shots than the JackJumpers with Kendric Davis finishing with 22 points, Jaylin Galloway 18, Tim Soares 13 and Kouat Noi 12.

The JackJumpers hadn’t played since last Friday in New Zealand and came out with tremendous energy to open up a 9-2 lead capped off by a three-point play from Nick Marshall.

Sydney responded with the next seven points but with Bryce Hamilton and Tyger Campbell combining for 14 points in the quarter, Tasmania were leading 29-25 by the end of one on the back of a scorching 80 per cent field goal shooting.

The JackJumpers lead was out to seven thanks to an and-one from Josh Bannan to open the second frame but the Kings picked up the momentum and went on a run of scoring 21 points to 10 heading into half-time to be leading 55-50 at the break.

Tasmania were still shooting at 61 per cent but had taken 10 fewer shots than Sydney while giving up nine offensive rebounds.

Despite Bannan starting the third quarter with a three-pointer for the JackJumpers to cut it back to a two-point deficit, Sydney worked on top through the term to end up having the 79-64 advantage by three quarter-time.

The Kings were then leading by 16 points when Jaylin Galloway hit an early three-pointer in the fourth quarter before the JackJumpers did start mounting a fightback with triples to Nick Marshall and Bannan.

The JackJumpers, though, copped another blow with Hamilton fouling out with four minutes to play and soon after the Kings would be back out to an 11-point lead.

From there, Sydney wouldn’t score again and Tasmania whittled down the deficit including back-to-back baskets inside to Magnay before Ben Ayre nailed two free throws with 7.6 seconds left to make it a one-point game.

That's where things really got interesting with Kouat Noi missing two foul shots for Sydney before the Kings got the ball back when the JackJumpers couldn’t grab the defensive board.

However, Magnay nabbed the inbounds pass from Xavier Cooks and in the end Marshall made himself the hero with the bucket at the rim for the stunning one-point comeback win.

The JackJumpers now return home to MyState Bank Arena to play host to the Perth Wildcats on Wednesday night before heading to Launceston to play the Cairns Taipans on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 90 (Hamilton 18, Bannan 18, Magnay 15)

SYDNEY KINGS 89 (Davis 22, Galloway 18, Soares 13)

BOX SCORE