Hunger shows as Bullets get first win

Being hungry was the theme of the week for the Brisbane Bullets and that's exactly what they were with 21 offensive rebounds and 12 of those from Tyrell Harrison as part of the 87-85 win over South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The Bullets focused on being hungry and not desperate this week in the search of the first win of NBL25 and that's exactly how they played against the also winless Phoenix at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.

Brisbane made a better start to the game and then it was their work on the offensive glass, their ability to draw offensive fouls and fight for the loose balls that ultimately was the biggest factor in the two-point victory.

The Bullets did have to fight back from a 12-point deficit in the second quarter, but produced a standout third quarter and then held on in a nail-biting victory for the two-point triumph.

Brisbane finished with 21 offensive rebounds for 21 second chance points in the game with 12 of those collected by Tyrell Harrison which is a record in the 40-minute NBL era.

Harrison had 17 rebounds overall for the game to go with 21 points on 10/20 shooting.

Import point guard James Batemon also was outstanding knocking down 6/9 three-pointers on his way to 20 points with three assists while captain Mitch Norton made huge plays all night in his 346th game for six points, three rebounds and a steal.

Casey Prather delivered 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks with Keandre Cook providing 15 points, seven boards and four assists, and Josh Bannan eight points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Bullets coach Justin Schueller liked the adjustments his team made all week in preparation for the match up.

"The most enjoyable part is that I thought we put four quarters together," Schueller said.

"There were little dips and what not, but the gaps that we'd been having didn’t feel like they were there tonight and we challenged ourselves to change our mindset a bit.

"We knew that after three games we were looking at the negatives too much so we changed that this week and I think that's how we played the whole way. I'm just proud of how we responded."

Matt Hurt top-scored for South East Melbourne with 24 points with Derrick Walton Jr adding 19 points and five assists.

After a couple of slow starts in the first three games this season, getting off to a better beginning was a focus for the Bullets and it worked starting with another early bucket to Casey Prather.

Tyrell Harrison and Keandre Cook then combined to give Brisbane a 9-2 run to be leading 11-4 but the Phoenix would soon score 14 consecutive points before the Bullets got a steadying three ball from James Batemon.

South East Melbourne were still leading 23-18 at quarter-time but Brisbane did score the first four points of the second period thanks to Prather and Batemon.

Again the Phoenix went on a 13-2 run after that but then Batemon answered with a three ball for the Bullets before finding Rocco Zikarsky for a throwdown.

Batemon landed another couple of three balls on his way to 14 points for the half and a three-point play just before the buzzer from Cook helped the Bullets cut the Phoenix lead to 49-45.

It then took just over two minutes for the Bullets to score the first six points of the second half to grab the lead and force the Phoenix into a quick timeout.

A big block defensively from Prather and captain Mitch Norton in his 346th game drawing an offensive foul helped the Bullets to build an eight-point lead through the third quarter too.

Brisbane were still leading by two at three quarter-time and then early in the fourth Cook and Bannan combined for five straight points to give the Bullets the lead by that margin.

Batemon landed a three on yet another Bullets offensive rebound with six minutes to play to make it a six-point game with that lead then out to seven with 3:45 to play when the point guard hit another triple on a possession where Brisbane won three offensive boards.

The game still had a tight finish with the Phoenix scoring the game's last four points and to have a shot on the buzzer, but the Bullets defence held firm for the first up win of NBL25.

The Bullets will now be back home at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre this Thursday night to host a New Zealand Breakers team who beat them at HoopsFest and who is now fresh off three games in the United States on their NBLxNBA tour.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

BRISBANE BULLETS 87 (Harrison 21, Batemon 20, Prather 15, Cook 15)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 85 (Hurt 24, Walton Jr 19, Wieskamp 10)

BOX SCORE