Bullets go down as Phoenix fire in Melbourne

It wasn’t the return to Melbourne that the Brisbane Bullets were hoping for on Saturday evening with the South East Melbourne Phoenix claim a 96-73 victory.

Whilst it was an exciting lead up, with Josh Bannan making his NBL debut tonight in his hometown, it didn’t prove to be Brisbane's night.

The Bullets last played on Sunday also at John Cain Arena going down to Melbourne United by 11 points, but produced an impressive fourth quarter which they were hoping to build on come Saturday evening back on the same floor.

Brisbane was up against a South East Melbourne team who have found some early form, winning their past two matches and the Phoenix were able to continue that run. 

The Bullets were showing positive signs early, forcing the Phoenix into multiple first quarter turnovers and executing on the offensive end from the stops. However the visitors got into early foul trouble, with three fouls to Tyrell Harrison and a couple to Shannon Scott. Brisbane were deep into their rotations and the Phoenix were hitting from beyond the arc as they built a 12-point half-time lead.

Unfortunately, the Bullets lost Shannon Scott to an upper leg injury in the third quarter and despite Mitch Norton and Isaac White providing alot of energy and eeping the scoreboard ticking over,  South East Melbourne went on to secure the 23-point win.

It was a tough outside shooting night for Brisbane going 4/24 from deep combined with the 15 turnovers along with conceding 15 offensive rebounds.

Nathan Sobey top-scored for the Bullets in his 32 minutes with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Isaac White brought a spark of the bench, adding 14 points on 5/8 shooting.

Mitch Norton was tough on both ends of the floor contributing 12 points, five assists and three steals.

DJ Mitchell had seven points, Chris Smith six points and five rebounds, Rocco Zikarsky six points and three boards, and Sam McDaniel four points and two rebounds.

Scott had four points, two rebounds and two assists before his injury, while Tyrell Harrison ended up with three points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks, Josh Bannan two points and four boards, and Gabe Hadley scored his first point of the season.

Alan Williams finished with 21 points, six rebounds and three assists for South East Melbourne with Ben Ayre adding 16 points, Rhys Vague 12 and Mitch Creek 10.

Josh Bannan made the perfect start to his NBL career in his hometown by scoring the first basket in transition for the Bullets, set up by Shannon Scott. That started a 6-0 run for the Bullets who were then leading 9-4 when DJ Mitchell dropped a three-pointer.

Mitch Norton then fed Rocco Zikarsky for the alley-oop finish to make it 11-4, but things dried up for Brisbane the rest of the opening period. South East Melbourne finished with a 13-4 run with the four Bullets points coming from Sobey.

That saw the Phoenix lead 17-15 after one, before two more buckets to Sobey to open the second stanza had the Bullets briefly back in front.

Alan Williams had a night for the Phoenix, scoring eight of the next 10 points to help the home team open up an eight-point edge.

The margin then got out to 15 with South East Melbourne going on a 9-0 run but Brisbane did cut it back to 12 at the half thanks to Norton and Scott.

South East Melbourne started the second half with a 12-2 run to lead by 22, but Brisbane steadied with three-pointers late in the period from Norton and Isaac White.

The Bullets closed the third frame with the last six points thanks to White and Chris Smith, but the margin was still 18 by three quarter-time.

The Bullets remain on the road to take on the Perth Wildcats on Friday night to open Round 5 before coming home to host the Tasmania JackJumpers on Sunday at Nissan Arena.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 4

BRISBANE BULLETS 73 (Sobey 14, White 14, Norton 12)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 96 (Williams 21, Ayre 16, Vague 12)

BOX SCORE