South East Melbourne Phoenix have recorded back-to-back wins over local NBL rivals Melbourne United for the first time in their history after closing out a tight 78-72 victory.
Stinging from their biggest loss of the season to the New Zealand Breakers, the Phoenix led from start to finish at John Cain Arena on Saturday night for their eighth win of the season to sit within a pack of teams attempting to chase down the league-leading Breakers and Sydney Kings.
The Phoenix were looking for a repeat of their 84-69 thumping of United back in round seven, their largest winning margin in the Throwdown derby, but found themselves in a tussle against a United side fighting to avoid a fourth loss in a row.
Chris Goulding's three-pointer with just under four minutes to play levelled the scores at 72-72 but the Phoenix remained steady to close out the game as United missed their final six shots to squander any chance of a comeback victory.
Coach Simon Mitchell was pleased with the way his side responded in the two days following their horror loss in New Zealand.
"We watched some video before we came on the floor of us being sieves, letting them get blown by and, you know, just to prick at the personal pride of some guys and make sure that they're on point," Mitchell said after the Phoenix held United to 13 points in the fourth quarter.
All five Phoenix starters scored in double figures with Alan Williams (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Gary Browne (17 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) stepping up in the final minutes to help secure the win.
"We're like six and two with our starters on the floor so obviously we are going to stick with that, they are playing some good ball," Mitchell said about his current first-team combination.
Melbourne were dealt a blow in the lead-up to the game with Isaac Humphries ruled out due to COVID-19 while Shea Ili remained sidelined with ongoing concussion symptoms, the New Zealand international restricted to just three appearances so far this season.
The Phoenix closed the first quarter up 23-18 and then led by as many as 12 points in the second term but United struck a late blow with Goulding's second triple of the half closing the gap to 45-38 at the main break.
United restricted South East Melbourne to eight points through the first six and a half minutes of the third quarter but a series of mental errors and ill-discipline proved costly as the Phoenix maintained a 63-59 advantage heading into the final quarter.
The loss leaves United stranded in ninth spot with a 5-9 record ahead of Monday's away clash with the bottom-ranked Illawarra Hawks.
