Bullets complete perfect weekend beating JackJumpers

The Brisbane Bullets completed a standout Round 5 double in the NBL backing up a spirited win out west on Friday to hold tough to beat the Tasmania JackJumpers 90-87 at home on Sunday.

It was a first game in over two weeks at Nissan Arena for the Bullets and they came into the contest on a high after beating the Perth Wildcats on Friday night ahead of hosting a JackJumpers also having played on Friday in a home loss to Melbourne United.

It set the tone for a fascinating Sunday afternoon at Nissan Arena with a jam packed crowd of 4559 in attendance, and the Bullets again came out hot and held sway most of the way.

That didn’t mean the JackJumpers ever gave up the ghost and it was just a one-point game again in the final minute and Tasmania did force a turnover on the final possession to have a shot at forcing overtime.

However, Jordon Crawford's desperation three didn’t fall and Brisbane held firm for the three-point win to complete the outstanding double win weekend to improve to a 4-4 record on the season.

What again stood out in the win for the Bullets like it did on Friday was how outstanding of a team performance it was with nine players scoring and each of them making a strong contribution to the victory.

Captain Nathan Sobey was brilliant after two early fouls to hit back and finish with 28 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals on 10/16 shooting from the floor and 4/7 from downtown.

Just as instrumental was Sam McDaniel in his first game against the team he spent the past two seasons with. On the back of a brilliant job on Perth's Bryce Cotton on Friday, he took on the role guarding Milton Doyle and helped restrict him to seven points on 3/10 shooting combined with scoring eight points himself.

Chris Smith hit some big shots too for 11 points along with four rebounds and three assists with Josh Bannan continuing to grow with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tyrell Harrison was a beast inside with 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

Isaac White was also against his former team and had 10 points and three assists with Mitch Norton tremendous running the point for three points, four assists and two rebounds. DJ Mitchell contribed six points and three boards, and Rocco Zikarsky four points and three rebounds.

It might have taken a minute and-a-half for the first score of the game, but that went the way of the Bullets with a three ball to Mitch Norton.

Josh Bannan then hit from downtown soon after too to make it 6-2 before free-throws from Sam McDaniel made it 8-2 and it was reminiscent of the 18-3 start in Perth on Friday night to open the weekend.

Three-point bombs late in the opening quarter from Chris Smith and Isaac White who gave that punch off the bench with Sobey picking up two early fouls helped the Bullets to the 24-21 advantage by quarter-time.

Brisbane opened the second quarter with a big dunk in the open floor off a steal from DJ Mitchell before a 6-0 run soon after kept the home team on top.

The Bullets closed out the first half well too and went into the break leading 45-39 with nine players all having scored to go with an impressive performance on the glass with 24 rebounds to just 17 from Tasmania.

Sobey then came out inspired to start the second half starting with an and-one play before hitting a three ball to push the Bullets out to a double-digit advantage.

While Tasmania responded and went on an 11-2 run of their own, Brisbane answered and closed out the third quarter with the lats six points including another triple from Sobey to lead 69-62 going into the fourth.

A three-pointer from Smith with 6:30 to play and another banked in from Sobey with just over four minutes on the clock kept the Bullets up seven, but the JackJumpers wouldn’t go away.

A fourth three of the game from Sobey kept the margin at six but with 34 seconds to play it was a one-point ball game once more.

Josh Bannan came up huge to finish inside on the nice find from Norton before Smith was able to ice the game for the Bullets who held on for the three-point win to make it a perfect bounce back weekend.

The Bullets now have another short turnaround to open Indigenous Round by hosting the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday back at Nissan Arena.

There's then a return clash with the JackJumpers in Launceston on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 5

BRISBANE BULLETS 90 (Sobey 28, Smith 11, White 10, Bannan 10, Harrison 10)

 TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 87 (McVeigh 18, Deng 17, Crawford 16)

BOX SCORE