Tasmania JackJumpers to face Melbourne United in NBL ...
- In short: Tasmania JackJumpers beat Perth Wildcats 100-84 to qualify for the Championship Series.
- Melbourne United advanced after defeating Illawarra Hawks 100-94.
- What's next? The best-of-five Championship Series begins on Sunday.
Milton Doyle has produced an MVP-level performance and Jack McVeigh hit a new career-high as Tasmania JackJumpers beat Perth Wildcats 100-84 to advance to the NBL Championship Series.
In just their third season in the NBL, the JackJumpers are now into a second best-of-five season decider as they booked a meeting with Melbourne United via Wednesday night's win in Perth.
Title favourites Melbourne United held off a spirited Illawarra Hawks challenge to win 100-94 win at John Cain Arena on Wednesday night.
"I thought we were just on point in a lot of areas and to say I'm proud of them would be an understatement," said a delighted JackJumpers coach Scott Roth.
"This is a win for Tasmania, a place that we love and we defend the island for them, and there's 500,000 there who were cheering for us tonight and we felt that energy."
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The JackJumpers lost the opening game to the Wildcats on Friday night in Perth but responded in Hobart on Monday, despite the absence of suspended centre Marcus Lee.
Trying to close the deal in hostile territory was always going to be a challenge on Wednesday, but the JackJumpers were cool right from the outset and it was Doyle who took control in the second quarter.
He scored 13 of his 24 points for the game in that period to go with nine assists that saw the JackJumpers turn into half-time leading 52-43.
Doyle added another seven quick points to open the second half and then a couple of three-pointers from fellow All-Second Team member McVeigh (27 points) saw the lead blow out to as much as 17 points.
There was no let-up from the JackJumpers with development player Sean Macdonald (nine points, five assists) showing how good he already is with a couple of big shots to start the fourth period.
The JackJumpers were leading again by 16 points with seven minutes to play and went on to win by the same margin.
They face a tough task against Melbourne United, who topped the regular-season ladder with a 20-8 record and have the chance to add to the 2017/2018 and 2020/2021 titles won under current coach Dean Vickerman.
The opening game of the season decider will be played in Melbourne on Sunday.
AAP