Tough start to D-Mac era for Bullets

Darryl McDonald's first night in charge as coach of the Brisbane Bullets didn’t provide the boost hoped with the South East Melbourne Phoenix ending up winning 107-78 at John Cain Arena.

After losing the previous six matches, the move was made for Stu Lash to stand down as coach during the week with McDonald to take over as interim coach of the Bullets ahead of the trip to Melbourne to face the Phoenix.

The Bullets did start well enough but couldn’t quite keep up with the intensity the Phoenix play at falling to the 29-point defeat to make it seven losses now in succession for NBL26.

The glaring numbers by the end of the game were the 28 turnovers that the Bullets conceded which undid their good work on the offensive glass where they collected 22 o-boards.

The Phoenix then attempted 42 free throws to the 25 from the Bullets while South East Melbourne also shot 50 per cent from the field opposed to the 36 from Brisbane.

Just to compound matters further for the Bullets, they also lost Sam McDaniel (foot) and Taine Murray (ankle) to injuries with McDaniel having a particularly encouraging start in the first half with seven points and three rebounds on 3/4 shooting.

Javon Freeman-Liberty ended up top-scoring for the Bullets with 17 points with two assists and two steals despite shooting 5/19 from the field to go with five turnovers.

Jacob Holt continues to be a shining light for the Bullets with the rookie big man ending up with 10 points and six rebounds in 13 minutes while also knocking down the first three-pointer of his NBL career.

Tyrell Harrison also had nine points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and two steals, Jack Purchase nine points with 2/4 from deep, Alex Ducas seven points and two steals, Terry Taylor seven points and six rebounds, and Tohi Smith-Milner six points, four boards and two assists.

Former Bullets captain Nathan Sobey top-scored for South East Melbourne with 20 points and eight assists with Hunter Maldonado adding 18 points, Wes Iwundu 13, Angus Glover 10 and Akech Aliir nine.

The Bullets did start the game solidly enough and were leading 5-4 when Alex Ducas knocked down a three-pointer and then 7-6 when Sam McDaniel also scored before the Phoenix scored the game's next 11 points.

Brisbane again steadied, though, and went on their own 6-0 run with five of those points courtesy of McDaniel and forcing South East Melbourne into eight turnovers in those first 10 minutes limited the lead of the home team to 22-17 by quarter-time.

The Phoenix then pushed their lead out to 19 points by the time they completed an 18-4 start to the second quarter before Brisbane got a steadying three ball from Javon Freeman-Liberty.

The Bullets tried to stay in touch the rest of the half but giving 15 turnovers and sending the Phoenix to the foul line 21 times was proving costly and it was South East Melbourne leading 55-38 going into the main break as a result.

Brisbane did score first to start the third quarter but South East Melbourne answered with the next eight points to see their lead get out beyond 20 points, and it was at 30 by three quarter-time despite a late Bullets three-pointer from Jack Purchase.

Liberty then scored six straight points for the Bullets in the fourth quarter, Jacob Holt knocked down a three ball and Purchase hit a second before also completing a three-point play, but the Phoenix were still able to complete the 29-point home win.

The Bullets now have yet another home game where they are coming into it straight off playing on the road less than 48 hours earlier when they host the New Zealand Breakers on Monday night at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

BRISBANE BULLETS 78 (Freeman-Liberty 17, Holt 10, Harrison 9)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 107 (Sobey 20, Maldonado 18, Iwundu 13)

BOX SCORE