Goulding Inspires Melbourne to Sixth Straight Win As Harvey Fires Hawks To Second NBL24 Win 

The last match of NBL24 round 5 between Brisbane Bullets and Tasmania Jackjumpers produced a lot of heat and light with a slim victory 90-87 in favor of the latter. 

Ideally, the game offers an ideal preview of the electrifying duels that characterized the just concluded NBL24 fifth round where most match-ups produced fierce battles with razor-thin victories. 

The next round kicks off on Thursday, November 2, between Brisbane Bullets and South East Melbourne, at 7.30 PM AEDT at the Nissan Arena, Nathan, QLD but as our norm, we are here to give you the unfiltered review of the past few matches, coaches’ talking points, and the player performances & stats that will likely influence the upcoming fixtures. 

Nevertheless, without diving deeper let’s give you a summary of the round’s fixture results. 

• NZL vs. ADL; 85-97
• ILL vS. CNS; 84-83
• TAS vs. MEL; 82-90
• PER vs. BRI; 79-84
• SEM vs. NZL; 103-100
• CNS vs. SYD; 87-80
• MEL vs. ILL; 96-84
• BRI vs. TAS; 90-87

Chris Goulding Leads Melbourne to 6th Successive Victory To Top NBL24 Standings 

While each game produced its moment, our insightful Australian basketball experts and pundits were particularly impressed by Chris Goulding’s firebrand performance on Sunday’s afternoon clash with the Hawks. 

The Melbourne United captain fired off the so far season-high 7 three-pointers inspiring the ladder leaders into a memorable 96-84 victory against the charged Illawarra Hawks. 

Melbourne were the favorites from the word go but there were doubts given the injury blow that has affected their regular rooster names, including Ian Clark who is out with a hamstring injury, and Matthew Dellavedova with concussion. To worsen the matter, Luke Travers suffered a disappointing first-half scare and was taken off after experiencing a left knee knock. 

On the other hand, Illawarra Hawks came out guns blazing as they forced the league leaders to trail them in the high-scoring first half, which we believe was significantly inspired by the much-needed win over Cairns on Thursday night in which Tyler Harvey staged a marquee performance to lead them into a slim 84-83 victory. 

Back to Goulding’s performance, he was influential in the team’s overall performance as he drained 21 first-half points, including 5 three-pointers. 

It is the night he broke his records as he finished the game with a personal seasonal best; of 33 points. 

However, despite his towering influence, the second half was more of a firefighting defense as they were able to limit Hawks to only 33 points. 

Shea Ili and Tanner Krebs also stepped up as they managed 17 and 14 points, respectively to help United extend their unbeaten streak to 6 games. 

Next Star Ariel Hukporti earned the manager’s praise after scoring 7 points and 10 rebounds and seems to be a perfect replacement ahead of the United’s regular rooster Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.

While talking on the sidelines after the game, Melbourne United Coach Dick Vickerman elatedly described Goulding’s performance as ‘amazing all night’. 

“When we’re doing film before the game we talk about people stepping up and any time he (Goulding) sees a couple of key guys out, he puts those things on his shoulders,” United coach Dean Vickerman said.

He continued,

“I don’t need to push that one too much but let’s run him the first play and let’s get him going, and he was amazing all night.”

Earlier in the game, United’s coach and fans had a tense moment after their boom recruit, Travers required an assessment of his knee soreness. However, to everyone’s relief, he was lucky to return after half-time and went ahead to book his name on the scoreboard with 6 points, and a game-high 11 rebounds. 

Illawarra Hawks Camp Euphorically Charged With a Second Win Of The Campaign

The Illawarra Hawks Vs. Cairns Taipans was the NBL24 round 5 opener, and as you would expect of openers, this duel had limitless talking points given that Hawks managed their rare second victory, amid a razor-thin margin of 84-83. 

Unsurprisingly, Tyler Harvey continued his remarkable fitness and skills level dropping a sensational 3-pointer; thus, emerged as the unrivaled game-winning shot maker!

Our NBL24 experts and pundits posit that the fixture might not have reached any great heights with the Taipans shooting just 6-of-28 from three-point range, and going 23-of -35 at the foul line while the Hawks went 39 percent from the floor and shot just 10-of-37 from downtown. 

Nevertheless, as the events of the charged Thursday night revealed, a compelling finishing performance can make for a lot. Perhaps, Cairns was relatively exhausted as this was their first NBL game after taking a two-week break to participate in the NBLxNBA against the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors in the USA. 

Overall, the match was entertaining, and the last minutes produced memorable epic moments. Despite the Cairns Taipers missing the crucial pair, Taran Armstrong and Tahjere McCall  Patrick Miller helped them chase down a 13-point lead and edge in front towards the final whistle. 

He went ahead to get a jump shot in the final minute, giving the Taipans a 2-point lead that looked as though it could have been match-winning.

Hawks on their side, relentlessly stamped their authority into the game and did not call for the timeout even with 6 seconds to the final whistle. Miraculously, the ball got into Harvey’s hands and he worked great to turn the tides in Hawks’ favor. 

Harvey’s deep three swished through the net with Taipans defenders Sam Waardenburg and Bul Kuol in close vicinity with one second remaining, sending the home fans into raptures and improving the Hawks to 2-4.

In the end, it was the Hawks night, and their coach Jacob Jackomas, couldn’t hide their joy anymore. After the game, he had this to say,

“I turned around to my assistants and I said, ‘That’s why we have him (Harvey)’,” 

“It’s good that people can be reminded how special he is at the end of the clock. In that space, he always gives us a chance.”

The Taipans coach, Adam Forde, lamented that his men had a sloppy game and a few mistakes cost them the victory. While crediting Illawarra Hawks for the hard-fought winning score, he felt that his team was well-equipped to close it out but giving up on the second chance points cost them the win. 

Besides Tyler Harvery’s star-rated performance, it is also imperative to credit the Hawks import, Justin Robinson, who despite struggling in the initial round matches, hit a three that forced a timeout and restored a game-high 13-point lead in the third quarter.