Bullets do plenty right in tight Tasmania loss

The Brisbane Bullets started on fire and then were in a winning position late, but the defending champion Tasmania JackJumpers took over the last two minutes for the eventual 95-92 victory.

The Bullets arrived at MyState Bank Arena and shot right out of the blocks with a 14-0 run early on the way to a 17-3 lead inside the game's opening three minutes.

Then even after being down eight by three quarter-time, the Bullets responded with Keandre Cook on fire to have a six-point lead with 2:30 on the clock only to see the JackJumpers finish with a 15-6 run from there to end up winning by three points.

Cook produced another standout performance to finish with 23 points and five steals while knocking down 6/12 of his three-point attempts for the game including 11 of those points in the fourth term.

Tyrell Harrison produced another 16 points and five rebounds with James Batemon adding 15 points on 3/3 three-point shooting, Josh Bannan 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Casey Prather 12 points, six boards and four assists.

Rocco Zikarsky had some impressive moments with five points and five rebounds with captain Mitch Norton adding four points, three rebounds and three assists, and Emmett Naar some handy minutes in the second term for two points, a rebound and an assist on debut for the Bullets.

Sick of being slow starters so far this season, the Bullets came out of the blocks on fire beginning with a Keandre Cook three-pointer before scoring 14 straight points.

Brisbane made their first six field goals and three free-throw attempts on the way to leading 17-3 after only 2:45 of the game with the JackJumpers forced into a timeout after Tyrell Harrison raced to seven of those first 17 points.

James Batemon came on and quickly knocked down a three-pointer as well and then Rocco Zikarsky delivered a put back dunk and the Bullets were leading 31-20 by quarter-time thanks to 63 per cent field goal shooting.

It was another good start to the second quarter from the Bullets and Emmett Naar provided a punch in some important minutes with his first points for Brisbane and some nice passes to help the lead grow to 13.

The JackJumpers did fight back into the contest, though, with the Bullets still clinging to the 46-43 advantage by half-time while still shooting at 50 per cent from the floor to the 40 from Tasmania.

Cook knocked down a couple more three-pointers early in the third quarter to keep the Bullets in front, but the JackJumpers then went on a 16-6 run the rest of the term to be leading 68-60 by three quarter-time.

The Bullets then started the fourth quarter on fire with the first five points from Prather before Josh Bannan hit a three for the 8-0 run to tie scores up.

Batemon hit a three soon after to give Brisbane the lead and then three huge triples from Cook saw the Bullets back out to a six-point edge with four minutes to play.

They were still up six with 2:30 to go as well but then Tasmania scored the next nine points including some huge shots to Milton Doyle who went 8/11 from three for 32 points with the JackJumpers ending up winning by three.

The Bullets now have the short turnaround to play their first back-to-back game of NBL25 when hosting the Perth Wildcats at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday afternoon.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

BRISBANE BULLETS 92 (Cook 23, Harrison 16, Bannan 15, Batemon 15)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 95 (Doyle 32, Magnay 14, Crawford 11)

BOX SCORE