Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Burnie-born point guard Taran Armstrong’s clutch pull-up jumper with 5.5 seconds remaining has delivered the Tasmania JackJumpers a pulsating 84-82 NBL win over Melbourne United.
After Sam Waardenburg’s three-pointer with 14.2 seconds left levelled the scores at 82-82 at Hobart’s MyState Bank Arena on Thursday night, the JackJumpers called a time-out before point guard Armstrong drilled the tiebreaker.
United had one last chance to pinch victory, but Malith Machar’s long shot rimmed out.
In his 100th game, Will Magnay paired 17 points with 12 rebounds for the home side, who almost frittered away a 19-point first-half lead.
Import Josh Oduro (22 points) and veteran Joe Ingles (18) led Melbourne’s charge.
“He’s a warrior, he’s definitely a JackJumper and he has all the things I look for in a player,” Tasmania coach Scott Roth said of Armstrong.
“The grittiness and toughness he plays with are obviously great Tasmanian traits.”
The Jackies held sway 23-14 at the end of a scrappy, foul-ridden opening term which featured more free throws (14) than field goals (10).
Tasmania found their rhythm in the second quarter, while United lacked any semblance of discipline or cohesion as the margin blew out to 19 points.
United hit just 11-of-25 foul shots for the half and were out-rebounded 33-14.
Epitomising Melbourne’s woes, Cole Anthony’s long prayer on the halftime bell – his seventh miss from eight attempts – was blocked by Jackies import David Johnson as Tasmania went into the sheds with a commanding 52-35 cushion.
United reduced the margin to 68-54 at three-quarter-time, before further eating into the deficit in the fourth.
Anthony’s forgettable evening ended when he received a technical foul for dissent – his disqualifying fifth – and it looked like Melbourne’s chances went with him, with the JackJumpers up 78-70.
Luke Travers responded with six quick United points, before Waardenburg added another three-point play for a 9-0 run which suddenly gave Melbourne the lead entering the final minute.
But undermanned Tassie – without Bryce Hamilton (knee), Ben Ayre (hip flexor), Majok Deng (leg) and Anthony Drmic (back), and with Dakota Mathias’s bloody nose hastily bandaged up following a heavy collision with Oduro – found a way and hung on grimly.
“It was a great test for us,” Melbourne coach Jacob Chance said.
“A lot of things (shots) didn’t drop.
“But you can’t come down here and play soft – and I don’t think we did that.”
