Melbourne United turn up heat against Brisbane Bullets

Defending champions Melbourne United have stepped up in the fourth quarter to close out a win over the Brisbane Bullets.

Melbourne United’s Chris Goulding attempts to get around Brisbane’s Matthew Hodgson at Hisense Arena. Picture: Getty Images

Defending champions Melbourne United stepped up in the fourth quarter to post a 102-94 win over Brisbane Bullets.

Holding a 77-75 lead after three quarters at Melbourne Arena, United reeled off seven unanswered points early in the fourth to break away from the visitors.

Casper Ware led the way for Melbourne with 23 points and six assists with David Barlow scoring 18 and Chris Goulding 16.

Melbourne improved their win-loss record to 8-3 on the season, joining top-ranked Perth on eight wins with the Wildcats having two games in hand.

United raced out to an early eight-point lead but Brisbane’s import pairing of Lamar Patterson and Stephen Holt combined for 21 first-half points as the visitors took a 44-43 lead into halftime.

Neither team could make a decisive break in the third stanza but United dominated in crunch time, at one stage extending the lead to 11 in their fourth-quarter charge.

Backing up from Friday’s seven-point away win over the Breakers, Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman was pleased with the way his side found a way to thwart Brisbane’s challenge.

“I thought we didn’t play with the same energy for the whole game we did in New Zealand the other night but it always felt like it was still there,” Vickerman said.

The Bullets had 15 three-pointers with six players finishing in double figures, Adam Gibson the best with 18, but were punished 26-10 in points on turnovers.

Brisbane coach Andrej Lemanis felt his team played well in many areas but turnovers and defensive breakdowns led to the result.

“The (turnovers) seemed to come at key moments when we had a chance to build a little momentum,” Lemanis said.

AAP