Deafening Crowd Lifts Phoenix

South East Melbourne has run the Cairns Taipans off their feet in the heat of the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium, creating an unforgettable memory for the people of Traralgon and the La Trobe Valley in an 87-77 win.

Mitch Creek produced a stunning performance that would have only enhanced his NBL MVP claims, his 26 points and eight rebounds complemented by an incredible seven steals - a new Phoenix franchise record.

The two teams went back and forth in the first quarter and the scores were locked away at 19 a piece after one, with Creek, new import Brandon Ashley and bench igniter Kyle Adnam away well, chalking up four points each. Creek was active on the glass with four rebounds in the opening stanza.

The Phoenix are the best three-point shooting team in the league, but went dry early, failing to make any of their six first-quarter attempts.
But they locked in defensively, forcing six turnovers in the first and then clamping down to start the second, a pair of steals leading to two easy buckets inside the first minute.

The drought from deep didn’t last long, Ryan Broekhoff, Cam Gliddon and Adnam splashing six between them to spark a big second quarter that blew the lead out to 12 at the long break, 49-37. Rowdy bagged three in the quarter on his way to 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals for the game.

The stifling defence proved too hot for the Taipans, who coughed the ball up 13 times in the half, leading to easy Phoenix transition buckets.
The Taipans did some half-time soul-searching and came out firing, trimming the lead to six, but treys from Gliddon and then Creek out of a Simon Mitchell timeout restored order.

Cairns looked after the ball better in the second half and managed to eat into the lead early in the last, but every punch they had was met by a counterpunch from Creek and company.

With Le’Afa out, Lachlan Barker - a sharpshooter for the Frankston Blues in NBL1 - was brought in as cover and Mitchell ended up trusting him with some meaningful minutes in the last quarter.

The Phoenix will now reload before a trip north in search of a third straight win when they face the Bullets in Brisbane.

The result:

South East Melbourne Phoenix 87-77 Cairn Taipans

The numbers

Phoenix:

Creek: 26 points, 8 rebounds, 7 steals (franchise record)
Broekhoff: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 3PM
Munford: 14 points, 4 assists
Gliddon: 12 points, 4 3PM
Ashley: 12 points

Taipans:

McCall: 15 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds,
Deng: 13 points, 4 blocks
Kuol: 13 points

The Turning Point:

Mitch Creek stepped into a three after two big offensive rebounds from the Phoenix as the Taipans challenged in the fourth. Cairns reduced the lead to six and threatening to over-run the Phoenix. But hard work on the offensive glass from Dane Pineau ensured the Phoenix got a pair of good looks and Creek made no mistake, turning the dial back in his side’s favour. Special shout out to Brandon Ashley for his massive chase down block on McCall late in the fourth quarter.

The Player of the Game:

Mitch Creek
Who else but the Phoenix star. Country boy Creek was excited to play in Traralgon and he put on a show for the locals, picking apart the Taipans with merciless efficiency and disrupting them defensively - setting the franchise steals mark in the process.

The Play of the Game:

Broekhoff’s third three pointer of the second quarter raised the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium roof. Creek stole the ball from Taj McCall and found Gliddon, whose pull up from deep rimmed out. Stephen Zimmerman outrebounded Pineau, but Creek snuck in and nicked it from the big Taipan, finding Broekhoff as he fell out of bounds. The former NBA man made no mistake - nothing but twine to extend the lead to a then-game high 12 with a tick over two minutes to go in the half.

From the Coach:
“It’s awesome. Country Victoria is such an unbelievable breeding ground for sport. You could not hear a thing out there in the gym tonight, they were loud as all heck. (I’m) really taken aback by the people of Traralgon and what they were able to do for us in the game tonight and I thought that they carried our energy levels and helped us continue to put pressure on the opposition with the energy they provided us. I’m glad we put on a pretty good show for them tonight, too.”
-Simon Mitchell on the support of the crowd in Traralgon

From the player:
“I’ve only been here a short time, but he’s definitely taken me in and helped me out a ton. Any time that I’m unsure of where I need to be or what it is that I’m doing, even the moments where I feel like I’m not doing as well, he’s there to pick me up and help me out and he’s been a great leader."
-Brandon Ashley on Mitch Creek

Phoenix Media (25/1/22)