Tigers outlast Bullets at home

The Melbourne Tigers have bounced back from a loss in Perth on Wednesday night, coming up with the crucial plays down the stretch to defeat the Brisbane Bullets 94-85 at The Cage tonight.

In a game which was far closer than the final score line suggests, Melbourne took advantage of the absence of Bullets skipper Derek Rucker through injury in the last quarter, with Dave Thomas and Rashad Tucker taking the game out of Brisbane’s grasp.

With the Tigers clinging to a three-point lead, Thomas stole the ball from Stephen Black and went the length of the floor for a dunk and foul, converting the extra shot, and then Tucker iced the game with four minutes to play, calmly nailing a three-pointer and following up with another three-point play to stretch the lead to double figures.

Thomas was the leading scorer on the court with 25 points, while Chris Anstey (22 points, 12 rebounds) and Tucker (16 points, seven rebounds, five assists) were also prominent.

Black led the visitors with 21 points and seven assists of his own, but without Rucker in the backcourt with him, he was unable to shake the home defense in the closing minutes.

In all there were eight lead changes throughout the game, but Melbourne’s renowned defensive pressure shone through, as they forced the Bullets into 26 turnovers for the game.

It was also an unhappy homecoming for Mark Bradtke and Lanard Copeland, who were both making their first appearance back in Melbourne after so many productive years with the Tigers.

Copeland finished with 14 points and Bradtke grabbed eight rebounds, as the latter reflected on his new side’s inability to finish out the game.

“Yeah it wasn’t too bad, we had a good side for a while but they put a clamp on us in the last few minutes and we couldn’t get the necessary scores (to win),” he said.

As has been the trend at most of its home games this season, Melbourne jumped out of the blocks early, with an early 10-0 run giving it a 14-4 lead and prompting a time out from Bullet’s coach Joey Wright.

Copeland made his first appearance in the game at the 5:51 mark and showed he still finds the rings of his former home user-friendly, knocking down a three-pointer straight away, while Sam MacKinnon and Black followed suit.

Copeland hit from long distance again soon after to bring his new side back within two, before another former Tiger, Daniel Egan, connected on a three-point play late, and the game was tied 29-29 after one.

Sharpshooter Daryl Corletto scored the first five points of the second term to put the Tigers back out, but from then on it was all Brisbane, as a Mick Hill three and a MacKinnon jam capped an 11-0 run which had the Bullets out by six.

Copeland was showing his former fans what they’d been missing with two free throws and a hanging jumpshot for an eight-point lead, and it took some magic from Melbourne’s imports to keep them within four at the long break, as Tucker found Thomas for a backdoor alley-oop late.

It was becoming increasingly evident that neither team could get a real break, as Thomas’ three-pointer to open the third quarter was answered straight away by Black, who was starting to have an influence on proceedings, and another one soon after had the Bullets’ four-point lead restored.

However, it was the home side that was making slight inroads, as Thomas’ fast-break dunk knotted the score at 58, and Corletto’s free throw gave Melbourne the lead going into the last, 66-65.

Momentum stayed with the home side throughout the final term, with Thomas’ steal and dunk sparking the win and a sold out arena left on its feet as Brisbane trailed away as the game wound down, much to the relief of centre Anstey.

“(It was a) hard week last week, we came in a bit tired, went through the process of getting good shots and played good defense,” he said.

“We didn’t force the game, we tried to let it come to us, we didn’t take too many bad shots as a team and that’s probably something we didn’t do well against Perth.”

Brisbane round out the round with a game away to league leaders Adelaide tomorrow afternoon, who have won six games in a row, while the Tigers kick off Round Nine next Wednesday night by hosting West Sydney.

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