The finish might have been dramatic but the Tasmania JackJumpers got the reward for turning the tables on the South East Melbourne Phoenix in the second half coming from 16 points down to open their NBL27 campaign winning 96-91.

The JackJumpers were opening their season at MyState Bank Arena and were missing Josh Bannan up front along with Ben Ayre, Anthony Drmic and Bryce Hamilton from the back court against a Phoenix team fresh off an impressive first up win in Perth.

South East Melbourne then took control with 28 points in the third quarter with 13 of those from Angus Glover to go into half-time leading 52-38 having been up as much as 16.

But the JackJumpers came out firing with 36 points on 14/19 shooting in the third quarter and then kept that going for the eventual five-point win having outscored the Phoenix 58-39 in the second half.

It wasn’t without some late controversy with South East Melbourne back within two following a triple from Skylar Mays. D'Shawn Schwartz then stole the ball from Nick Marshall before the disruptive foul was called on the JackJumper.

However, Mays stepped up to shoot the foul shot instead of Schwartz, which saw Tasmania regain possession and ultimately win the game despite the 18 offensive rebounds and 10 extra shots from the Phoenix.

It was a typically gritty win from the JackJumpers with David Johnson finishing with 26 points, six rebounds and six assists on 10/15 shooting.

Taran Armstrong added 19 points and three assists, Will Magnay 14 points, six assists and four rebounds, Dakota Mathias 14 points, six boards and three assists, and Marshall 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Glover had 13 of his 21 points in a two and-a-half minute patch in the second quarter while going 5/11 from the outside for the game with Mays ending up with 18 points and six rebounds for South East Melbourne.

Schwartz added 12 points and five rebounds, Dash Daniels 11 points and four assists, and Jordan Hunter nine points and five boards.

Coming off Saturday night's win in Perth, South East Melbourne kept the momentum going even still without Nathan Sobey with 24 points to 15 in the opening quarter.

D'Shawn Schwartz already had seven points while Dash Daniels continued his hot start with another five points and three assists.

Angus Glover then took over the contest spectacularly in the second quarter and in a two and-a-half minute period, he knocked down three triples and 13 points to blow the game open.

He had 16 points at half-time as a result with the Phoenix leading 52-38 on 9/17 three-point shooting as a team to 4/10 from the JackJumpers.

Tasmania turned the game on its head in the third quarter and started off with a 23-9 run before ending up with 36 points all up on 14/19 shooting.

They even grabbed the lead briefly before scores were locked at 74-74 heading into the fourth and then the home team were able to ride that momentum in the fourth but the Phoenix got right back in it with a huge three from Skylar Mays.

Schwartz then got the steal on Nick Marshall and it was called a disruptive foul, but when Mays stepped up to shoot the first free-throw, that was cancelled out. Marshall scored on the resultant possession and the JackJumpers went on to win by five.

The JackJumpers now have the short turnaround to heading straight to Cairns to take on the Taipans on Wednesday night while the Phoenix are back to Melbourne for a Throwdown with Melbourne United on Thursday.

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 96 – SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 91

Tasmania JackJumpers
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

SE Melbourne Phoenix

Angus Glover – 21 points, 2 assists, 5/11 3PT
Skylar Mays – 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
D'Shawn Schwartz – 12 points, 5 rebounds
Dash Daniels – 11 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds
Jordan Hunter – 9 points, 5 rebounds

Chris Pike

JackJumpers dig deep to beat Phoenix