Rd 1 Report | JackJumpers with stirring fightback win

The Tasmania JackJumpers showed their trademark grit to come from 16 points down to open the new NBL season with a 96-91 win at home to the South East Melbourne Phoenix thanks to a standout second half.

The JackJumpers were home on Monday night at MyState Bank Arena to open the new season hosting a Phoenix team who were coming off a win in Perth themselves on Saturday night.

Tasmania came into the game missing Josh Bannan up front, and then Anthony Drmic, Ben Ayre and Bryce Hamilton from the back court with the Phoenix taking charge of the first half.

South East Melbourne were leading 52-38 by half-time but the JackJumpers turned the tide immediately coming out of the break and produced 36 points in the third quarter on 14/19 shooting.

David Johnson scored 12 of those points himself while Ben Gold was stepping up in the absence of Bannan in his NBL debut and had three blocks in the period with the JackJumpers even hitting the front.

Tasmania were then able to complete the deal on the five-point victory to open the new season despite the Phoenix having 10 extra shot attempts for the game and collecting 18 offensive rebounds.

There was plenty to like in the JackJumpers win with Johnson ending up with 26 points, six rebounds and six assists on 10/15 field goal shooting.

Taran Armstrong was on debut with his home state team and delivered 19 points and three assists with 8/13 shooting while captain Will Magnay produced 14 points, six assists, four rebounds and a huge late block.

New import sharpshooter Dakota Mathias added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists on 3/5 shooting from the outside with Nick Marshall adding 10 points, three boards and three assists, and debutant young big Gold five points, four rebounds and three blocks.

In the absence of several key players and with the Phoenix having already played, and won, a game to open the season, it was always going to be tricky for the JackJumpers and the visitors did get the better of the start.

South East Melbourne were leading 24-15 by quarter-time before they then extended that advantage in the second period with another 28 points to 23 including 13 of those coming from Angus Glover.

David Johnson was up to nine points at the half for Tasmania with Will Magnay adding eight as did Taran Armstrong but the point guard wasn’t able to have an assist.

The JackJumpers fired back into the contest with 23 points in the first four minutes of the second half. Johnson scored 12 of those himself and Tasmania were able to draw all the way back level as a result.

The JackJumpers kept that momentum going to grab the lead with a triple from Dakota Mathias before they forced a backcourt turnover on Skylar Mays leading to a Nick Stoddart layup.

The scores were then all locked away at 74-74 by three quarter-time and it was a tight battle through the fourth term before a pair of free throws to Will Magnay and a floater to Johnson put the JackJumpers up four.

Armstrong then made a free-throw to make it five with just under a minute to go before the Phoenix made things interesting with a triple to Mays before they forced a turnover on the home team.

But confusion over who could shoot the subsequent foul shots saw the ball come back to the JackJumpers where Nick Marshall made the biggest shot of the night for Tasmania to win by five in the end.

The JackJumpers now jump on the plane to Far North Queensland on Tuesday ahead of taking on the Cairns Taipans on Wednesday night.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2026/27 | ROUND 1

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 99 defeated South East Melbourne Phoenix 88

MyState Bank Arena, Monday September 21

David Johnson | 26 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists
Taran Armstrong | 19 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds
Will Magnay | 14 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds
Dakota Mathias | 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Nick Marshall | 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Majok Deng | 6 points, 3 rebounds
Ben Gold | 5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks
Nick Stoddart | 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal

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