Bullets fall short against Phoenix

Brisbane came up just short on Saturday night, going down 89-88 against SEM Phoenix.

The Bullets got out to a strong start, through Jason Cadee who knocked down a couple of triples early. Brisbane continued to find contributors with Tanner Krebs , Aron Baynes and then Tyrell Harrison getting in on the action in the first quarter.

Phoenix kept the scores within reach, however the Bullets were successful going to their big men, to get scores inside. Brisbane took a 47-41 lead into the half time break.

The home side came out firing in the second half and the Bullets landed themselves in foul trouble throughout the game, with the home side shooting 12 more free throws than the visitors across the game.

The Bullets kept fighting. With six seconds remaining and trailing by one, the Bullets attempted to foul, but it was deemed a no-call and the visitors saw the time run.

Despite the result, there were some positives the Bullets could take out of the game with five players stepping up and scoring in double figures.

Jason Cadee (21 points, five rebounds, five assists) had a productive night, leading the way for the Bullets starting as point guard. Tyler Johnson had another solid performance finishing with 15 points, three rebounds and four assists.

Nathan Sobey had 10 points and five assists, much of those coming in a eight point flurry late in the fourth quarter. Aron Baynes added 11 points and fellow big man Tyrell Harrison had 11 points to go with eight rebounds.

Following the game Hostplus Head Coach James Duncan said, “Our turnovers hurt us again.”

“We need to value the ball. We aren’t doing that at a high level right now and that's hurting us,” Duncan added.

"The biggest thing for us is continuing to stick together and focus in on what the game plan is. We did some good things tonight, but we couldn't get over the hump especially when you have certain breakdowns through the course of the game."

After a strong performance on court, Jason Cadee displayed his feelings following the loss in the post game press conference.

“You can’t hide from your record it is what it is. You're 0-5 its frustrating, disappointing a whole heap of words could be used for it,” Cadee described.

"Tonight probably felt better than it has for some time, but it's hard to feel happy about something when your record is what it is."

"But at the end of the day there are more positives to take out of this game than we have had for the past three," Cadee added.

The Bullets will look to turn the tables quickly as they head straight to Wollongong on Monday night to take on the Illawarra Hawks.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 4

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 89 (Creek 31, Williams 11, Adnam 10, Te Rangi 10)

BRISBANE BULLETS 88 (Cadee 21, Johnson 15, Harrison 11, Baynes 11)

BOX SCORE