RETURNING National Basketball League (NBL) Next Star Malique Lewis has continued to show promise ahead of the 2025/26 season, playing a crucial role in his SEM Phoenix‘s preseason win over the Ryukyu Golden Kings.

The Phoenix faced off against the visiting Golden Kings at Perth HPC on Friday night, in one of their final hitouts before the season officially begins later this week. South East Melbourne went 1-1 at the NBL Blitz and were eager to find their groove ahead of Round 1.

It was a magnificent opening quarter from the Phoenix, blowing the game wide open in the first 10 minutes to lead 26-12 at the first change. South East Melbourne won the next two quarters comfortably, and although the Golden Kings finished strongly, the damage was already done as the Phoenix cruised home to a 15-point win.

Having already been rock-solid throughout other preseason option, Lewis continued his improvement on the offensive end with another strong showing in the win over the Golden Kings as he builds towards a breakout campaign.

South East Melbourne Phoenix (90) def. Ryukyu Golden Kings (75)

Malique Lewis – 11 points, three rebounds, one assist, three steals, one block

With selection in the NBA Draft in his sights, Lewis will be hoping to put together a strong campaign with the Phoenix in the coming months, and continued the promising signs of doing so with another productive outing on Friday.

Lewis showed his improvement on the playmaking front in the opening minutes of the contest, dishing out to a wide open Jordan Hunter on the perimeter, with the big man knocking down the triple. After spending a few minutes on the bench, the Next Star returned to the fold to close out the first term, and showed his defensive skills are as sharp as ever with a nice steal just before quarter time.

The young wing opened his scoring account in the first few minutes of the second frame, driving inside and finishing at the cup for his first make of the match, before backing it up with another strong finish at the rim a minute later in a quick scoring burst. However, this time it was through contact in a clear demonstration of his improved strength and touch around the basket over the off-season, and he converted truly at the charity stripe.

Lewis continued his scoring run by nailing another layup, this time in transition in a fast break that was generated by elite Phoenix defence. He was then subbed out for the remainder of the quarter, having established himself as one of the key factors in the match.

The Next Star began the third quarter with his second steal of the match, poking the ball free from Masahiro Waki and getting his side out in transition, before making another defensive play shortly after with a strong block on former Perth Wildcat Victor Law‘s jumpshot attempt. Lewis then spent a short stint on the bench again before being subbed back in and splitting a pair of free throws to close out another strong quarter.

Although Lewis was quiet for most of the third quarter, he closed out the match perfectly, nailing his only three-point attempt of the match to seal the win for South East Melbourne in the dying minutes. Long range shooting is an area of his game that has been improved over the off-season, and could be a catalyst to the offensive breakout that could land him on an NBA roster.

Lewis finished the match with 11 points on an accurate 4/5 shooting, to go with three boards, an assist, three steals and a swat in another strong two-way performance. He looks heavily improved in terms of offensive production and it could pave the way for the youngster to enter draft considerations in the coming months.