Newcomers Tasmania have pulled off the upset of the NBL season, shocking reigning champions Melbourne United to win 94-85 on the road, their fourth straight victory.
After starting the season with just one win from five games, the JackJumpers (6-6) are riding high in fifth place and shape as genuine playoff contenders with five wins from their last seven outings.
Tasmania stung United from the outset as they exploded for an NBL season-high 36 points in the opening quarter before the hosts fought back to a 10-point deficit at halftime.
Second-placed Melbourne (8-4) began the third quarter on a 18-4 run as Chris Goulding caught fire from deep, but the tide turned again as the visitors weathered the storm and went on an 11-0 run heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
In a seesawing final quarter, Jack McVeigh took over for the JackJumpers, scoring nine of his 17 points as his side iced the game from the stripe due to United's foul trouble.
McVeigh's late-game heroics thwarted a historic night from United big man Jo Lual-Acuil, who registered the franchise's first ever 20-20 double-double, finishing with 26 points and 21 rebounds.
Goulding led all scorers with 29 points on 5-10 from deep, but United's tandem offence wasn't enough as the JackJumpers held on for their first road win this year.
"I said from day one I want to win a championship this year. I want to be in the playoffs this year," JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.
"It might be far-fetched to some, but you're in professional sports and you're just trying to win every game you possibly can and develop this franchise.
"We'll see where it all ends at the end of the day, but we're here to compete, we're here to go after people, make people uncomfortable and we'll just see how it all shakes out."
Tasmania built their lead through solid outings by Mikyle Mcintosh (16 points), Josh Adams (16 points) and Josh Magette (11 points) with Will Magnay having another stellar game on the defensive end.
United coach Dean Vickerman said role players and the injection they provided were the difference and that was a credit to the culture the JackJumpers are building.
"They punished us, and I'm sure that's the most amount of threes that they've made as a team and there's a lot of different guys shooting threes there, so credit to them," he said.
"They did some really good things - they're playing a really good brand of basketball and Scott Roth and his coaching staff and all those guys should take good credit for what they've built."
