MONDAY night in the National Basketball League (NBL) saw the Tasmania JackJumpers keep their winning streak alive by producing their most impressive performance in that stretch, upsetting Melbourne United by six points.

Coming into the clash at John Cain Arena, the JackJumpers were dealt a massive blow, in both stature and impact, with big man Will Magnay ruled out for 6-8 weeks with a toe injury. His importance to Tassie is enormous, and it gave the Jackies an uphill battle against United.

On the other hand, Melbourne regained captain Chris Goulding from his calf injury, as well as big man Marcus Lee, and it appeared United were going to stretch the opposition in the frontcourt. However, the team had struggled with form over the past month, and were in danger of dropping out of the top two with a loss.

Tasmania landed the first blow of the match, getting going from behind the arc to jump out to an early lead. The JackJumpers piled on 36 first quarter points on the back of six three-pointers at an extremely high clip, and the visitors led by 10 points in their most productive opening term of NBL25.

That lead got out to 14 points as the JackJumpers seemingly had an answer for every push Melbourne made, with unsung heroes such as Reuben Te Rangi and Anthony Drmic making an impact on the offensive end. However, United’s class began to come to the fore, scoring the final 10 points of the quarter to close the deficit.

It was an arm wrestle in the third period, with Tassie’s impressive shooting becoming a slightly less reliable commodity, but the JackJumpers gritted their teeth to ensure they kept their noses in front whenever Melbourne looked to snatch momentum. It was a one-point game at the final change, and it was certainly game on at John Cain Arena.

Despite all of Melbourne’s hard work to get back into the contest, the JackJumpers were again leading by eight points early in the fourth quarter. United also lost big man Robert Loe after he was ejected after a clash with Drmic, a renowned agitator for the JackJumpers. A late offensive burst from Jordan Crawford saw Tassie’s lead balloon out to double-digits, before the visitors held on for a 97-91 triumph, ensuring their impressive record (8-2) at John Cain Arena remained intact.

Crawford was crucial down the stretch for Tassie, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the final term and was eventually the team’s leading scorer. The point guard has returned to form since coming off the bench in recent weeks, and came alive when the game was on the line.

Te Rangi had a season-high 15 points along with five rebounds on 5/7 shooting from the field and 3/5 shooting from deep, and was important in the first half for Tassie, as was Clint Steindl, who poured in 12 points (3/3 3PT) in just nine minutes before an ankle injury ended his night.

All five starters for Melbourne finished with double-digits in the scoring column, with Goulding the best of the bunch with 18 points on 4/9 shooting from behind the arc in 24 minutes of playing time as Dean Vickerman remains cautious about not overplaying his superstar on return from injury.

Point guard Matthew Dellavedova fought hard all night to finish with 16 points and nine assists, while Lee was excellent in his first game back, posting 14 points and six rebounds off the bench. The big man’s offensive rebounding late in the piece kept Melbourne in the contest and he looked to stretch his former side in the absence of Magnay.

The NBL action resumes tonight, when the Adelaide 36ers host the Brisbane Bullets in a Christmas Eve clash.