Melbourne United claimed their fifth consecutive victory in the NBL, trailing the New Zealand Breakers a milestone night 89–78 from sharpshooter Chris Golding.
Playing at an empty MyState Bank Arena in Hobart on Friday night, United (7–4) pulled out a three-quarter noise by the Breakers (1–7) and were trailed by Golding in the final 10 minutes, scoring 23 points. ended with
The Boomers star scored 5,000 career points in the NBL before moving into another gear to take his side to victory in the fourth quarter.
It was all Joe Lual-Aqueil at the start of the competition, whose inner presence and energy on the glass outperformed Breakers big man Yannick Wetzel, the United center with 22 points and 12 rebounds of his own - his first 20 and 10 in the NBL. Play.
Melbourne coach Dean Wickerman said the pairing of Goulding (50 per cent off the arc) and Lual-Equil were excellent on a night where defensive pressure from the Breakers kept the competition close.
"He (Golding) is a dual championship winner, he is our captain, and there is no more praise you can put on him," he said.
"He likes to see perfection and if he doesn't, he's willing to hold people accountable for the way we go about things, me included.
"I thought Joe's attack on the rim, and the seal inside the paint was so effective tonight and then challenging things on the rim as an anchor for us on the defensive end."
United were given several second chances with their dominance on the board, doubling their opposition from 50 to 25, 14 of them on the offensive end.
Jeremiah Martin led the way for the Breakers off the bench with 20 points from shooting 8/13, as his strategy forced his opposition into the paint to pay dividends for three quarters.
Returning point guard Peyton Siwa said his patience is a matter of pride but he needs to win these tough matches.
"Overall, I thought we played early and came out hard - the mistake we made was dropping too many aggressive rebounds," he told reporters.
"Every game we have to draw some positives: today we did a good job of sharing the ball, we kept the turnover low but in the end we lost.
"We've got a small turn, Sydney is coming. So we have to focus on that."