Rd 3 Report | Taran wins it late for JackJumpers

Will Magnay celebrated his 100th game with a powerful performance while Ben Gold and Kody Stattmann made crucial players, but ultimately it was the game winner with five seconds to go from Tasmania JackJumpers that was the difference.

The JackJumpers had found themselves 19 points up against Melbourne United at MyState Bank Arena on Thursday night, but had seen that lead disappear and were even trailing late in the piece.

But Magnay came up huge with some late blocks and free throws in his 100th game while Stattmann took a massive charge, and then Burnie-native Armstrong came up huge with the game winning mid-range shot with 5.5 seconds to go for the JackJumpers to hold on and win by two.

By the end of the night, the JackJumpers had collected 18 offensive rebounds to just seven from United while attempting 10 extra shots even though Melbourne went to the line on 10 extra occasions.

In the end, both teams combined for 72 free throws, which didn’t lead to the greatest of spectacles, but it was still a dramatic finish and, in the end, a gritty win for the JackJumpers given all the circumstances.

Not only were they still missing Bryce Hamilton, Ben Ayre, Majok Deng and Anthony Drmic, but then saw Josh Bannan, David Johnson and Ben Gold foul out through the night.

The JackJumpers then saw that 19-point lead disappear but they dug deep again to get the job done with captain Magnay celebrating his 100th game with 17 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in a monster performance.

Before fouling out, Johnson had 16 points and four rebounds on 6/11 shooting with Dakota Mathias finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds despite taking a big hit to the nose.

On top of hitting the winning shot, Armstrong ended up with 12 points and six assists with Gold contributing nine points and eight rebounds, Nick Marshall eight points and six boards, and Bannan six points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Kody Stattmann and Biwali Bayles made their JackJumpers debuts as injury replacements. They played crucial roles, with Stattmann taking a huge late charge and Bayles providing crucial ball-handling relief for Armstrong.

The JackJumpers got off to a strong start in a first quarter dominated by the whistle, and with Will Magnay going 6/8 himself from the foul line in his 100th game, Tasmania led 23-14 by the end of one.

As a team, the JackJumpers went 9/14 from the stripe to 5/13 from United, grabbed three offensive rebounds to one, and forced Melbourne into four turnovers while committing just two themselves.

The JackJumpers retained control through the second quarter with another 29 points to 21 and that was on the back of going 9/20 from the field along with 5/9 from the outside and 6/7 from the foul line.

As a result, Tasmania went into the half-time break leading 52-35, thanks to 11 offensive rebounds, with Dakota Mathias up to 10 points on 3/5 three-point shooting, while Taran Armstrong added nine points and three assists.

Melbourne did start strongly in the third quarter but Tasmania responded and collecting another six offensive boards helped their cause to still be leading 68-54 by three quarter-time.

The game still had plenty of twists left, though, with Melbourne getting all the way back within four with five minutes to play before two crucial free throws from captain Magnay.

Magnay then had a massive block on Sam Waardenburg and Ben Gold made a crucial driving finish and drew the foul. That became a three-point play and Mathias also returned after taking a hit to the nose to make the technical that saw Cole Anthony foul out for Melbourne.

That had the JackJumpers up eight but United scored the next nine points in the space of a minute to suddenly hit the lead and Tasmania had to respond.

They did that with Kody Stattmann taking a huge charge on Waardenburg before Magnay made four more free throws, but still Melbourne kept coming and were back level with a triple from Waardenburg.

In the end, Armstrong made the game's biggest shot with 5.5 seconds left to take the two-point lead, and it stayed that way at the buzzer.

The JackJumpers now don't have much time to enjoy the win as they jump on a plane on Friday ahead of taking on the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday evening.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2026/27 | ROUND 3

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 84 defeated Melbourne United 82

MyState Bank Arena, Thursday October 1

Will Magnay | 17 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks
David Johnson | 16 points, 4 rebounds
Dakota Mathias | 13 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
Taran Armstrong | 12 points, 6 assists
Ben Gold | 9 points, 8 rebounds
Nick Marshall | 8 points, 6 rebounds
Josh Bannan | 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Kody Stattmann | 3 points
Biwali Bayles | 1 rebound