United extend winning streak to three with victory against Breakers
After a statement victory on the road against Cairns on Saturday, while their opponents from New Zealand lost at home to Adelaide a night earlier, Melbourne United will have felt confident in their chances of leaving John Cain Arena with a win on Monday night. There was, however, an interesting stat that will have made Breakers fans feel confident.
In the first eight games of round seven, two of which were United's win in Cairns and the Breakers losing to the 36ers, the visiting team left the court with the win. Some of these games were close, others not as much. Either way, no home team had come out on top in them.
With New Zealand the visiting team in the final matchup of round seven, United were hoping to end the misfortune that the eight home teams before them had suffered since Wednesday. And with the start they had, that looked very likely.
Ever since arriving in Melbourne, Cole Anthony has proven to be a divisive figure. In the first ten minutes against New Zealand, he proved both his doubters and his fans right.
A tech foul only two minutes into the game was far from what Jacob Chance would have wanted to see from Anthony to start the game. Anthony will argue the next eight minutes made up for it, with thirteen points on 5/6 shooting, including 3/3 from the three-point-line. John Cain Arena was loud throughout the first quarter, and with United leading 28-19 at quarter-time, they had no reason not to be.
Yet, the Breakers weren't willing to go down without a fight. Led by Sam Mennenga, the Breakers chipped away at the lead throughout the second quarter, only trailing 43-39 at half-time. Mennenga led the way in scoring for the Breakers with nine points, while Charles Bediako was also troubling United with seven points and five rebounds.
Despite not scoring in the second quarter, Cole Anthony still led the game in points with thirteen, while Luke Travers was right behind him with ten. Elsewhere, Josh Oduro was all but guaranteed to end the night with his third NBL double-double, with nine points and ten rebounds at half-time, while Chris Goulding impressed in his first home game back from injury with eight points at the end of the seond quarter.
After a strong second quarter from the Breakers, there seemed to be a good chance we saw all nine away teams win in round seven. However, those chances seemed significantly slimmer after United came out of the half-time break firing.
Cole Anthony had re-found his shot, with a couple of big baskets early in the third quarter, while Josh Oduro was simply too dominant for the Breakers to deal with inside the paint. With United leading 70-55 at three-quarter-time, it was going to take some serious effort from Sebastian Gleim's men to take the lead back in the final quarter.
In the end, it only got worse for the Breakers, losing 94-74. The high margin gave Jacob Chance the opportunity to play the guys at the end of his bench, and one of them in Christian D'Angelo made the most of it, hitting a half-court buzzer beater to get the crowd out of their seats, sealing off a dominant win for United.
It would be fair to say that game showcased both of Cole Anthony's perfections and his flaws. Either way, he ended as the game's top scorer with 21 points, while Josh Oduro dominated the paint all night with seventeen points and nineteen rebounds.
Sam Mennenga was the Breakers top scorer with fifteen points, while Carlin Davison will also be able to take positives away from what was a rough night for his team, finishing the game with twelve points and ten assists.
United return to John Cain Arena on Saturday, where they'll hope to extend their winning streak to four against the Bullets, while the Breakers prepare for the difficult task of taking down the in-form Tasmania Jackjumpers away from home on Friday.
