Phoenix Make a Statement

The South East Melbourne Phoenix made it three wins in a row after holding the Bullets to 6 points in the final quarter to run out 15 point winners.

The boys from the Heartland had this game circled on the calendar after the Bullets took advantage of Phoenix, who were coming off a 28 day break between games and a brush with Covid 19, last start.

(Phoenix had a much better game than a fortnight ago against Brisbane.)

A 29 point Phoenix first quarter dwarfed the teams 6 point effort the last time the two teams met.

Besides a stretch late in the third, the Phoenix were in control of this game, and if Brandon Ashley had stayed out of foul trouble the margin may have been much higher than the 15 points it was at the final buzzer.

The Result

88-73

The numbers

Phoenix

Mitch Creek 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
Kyle Adnam 16 points
Xavier Munford 14 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists

Brisbane

Lamar Patterson 26 points
Nathan Sobey 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists

(Mitch Creek had standout game again.)

The Turning Point

Brandon Ashley spent much of the game on the pine due to foul trouble, but when he was on the floor he was unstoppable. In just over 14  minutes he had 9 points and 7 rebounds. 

After giving up a 15 point late in the third it was Ashley at both ends who got the Phoenix going again with back to back buckets and a big defensive play on Tyrell Harrison.

Player of the Game

Mitch Creek took what the opposition gave him, in the first half he was unstoppable at the offensive end dropping 20 points. In the second half he turned distributor, and while he only managed 4 assists he continued to find the open man.

Play of the Game

The last time these two teams played the Phoenix scored 6 points for the entire first quarter, Creek matched that in less than 10 seconds dropping back to back 3's in the first quarter.

(Adnam had 16 points for the game and did what he had to do to get the team over the line.)

From the Coach

Simon Mitchell

"Last time we played up here we didn’t give the people of Brisbane a good indication of who we are. Creeky and Kyle had the boys reved up and ready to go for this one.

"We've been away for a while, had a home game in La Trobe, but it will be good to get back and play in front of our fans. We've been away from our fans for such a long time it will be great to get back in front of them."

From the Player

Kyle Adnam

"There was definitely a lot of personal pride after the last time we played, we were disappointed as a group and felt we had something to prove.

"We want defence to be what we hang our hats on, we want to be the best defensive team in the competition, we've got some work to do but tonight was a good start.

"I can’t wait to see the Phoenix faithful back at the Fire Pit, but really looking forward to playing in front of them."

CLICK HERE for tickets to our next home game on Feb 5 match against Perth Wildcats. 

Phoenix Media (29/1/22)