Tasmania JackJumpers Edge Phoenix in NBL27 Opener
The Tasmania JackJumpers opened their NBL27 campaign with a comeback that will sit comfortably in club folklore. The finish, though, will be talked about for very different reasons.
In front of a sold-out MyState Bank Arena, Tasmania overturned a 14-point halftime deficit to beat South East Melbourne Phoenix 96-91 on Sunday. The noise was deafening, the stakes high, and then the rulebook walked onto centre stage.
Chaos in the final 32 seconds
Tasmania led 91-89 with 32 seconds left when Nick Marshall brought the ball up the floor. Phoenix import D’Shawn Schwartz hounded him, picked his pocket and suddenly had the ball and the momentum.
Marshall fouled to stop the break. On review, officials upgraded it to a disruptive foul under the new FIBA rules, handing Phoenix two free throws and the chance to tie the game.
That’s where everything unraveled.
Schwartz was the player fouled. Under FIBA rules, he had to shoot the free throws. Instead, import guard Skylar Mays calmly walked to the line and took the ball. Nobody stopped him. No whistle. No correction. He prepared to shoot what everyone inside the arena believed were game-tying attempts.
It wasn’t the referees who noticed the problem.
From the Tasmania bench, head coach Scott Roth and forward Josh Bannan immediately signalled that Mays was the wrong shooter. Their protests forced the officials to stop play and check the situation.
What followed left Phoenix coach Josh King baffled.
“Very confusing. I’ve never seen... I have to get some clarity behind it,” King said post-game, still trying to piece together the sequence.
Under FIBA rule 45.4.3, if the wrong player attempts a free throw, that free throw is cancelled and possession is awarded to the opposition for a throw-in from the free-throw line extended. That’s exactly what the officials applied.
Because Mays went to the line on his own — not on instruction from the referees — the error couldn’t be walked back. Once he attempted the free throw, the rule kicked in. The shots were wiped. So was Phoenix’s possession.
Tasmania ball. Two-point lead. A lifeline turned into a hammer blow.
King admitted he and his team misunderstood the situation.
“I think the way I understood it, they said it was our ball. It was two shots and the ball I think?” he said.
“I think what Skylar thought is anybody could shoot because it was a unsportsmanlike foul and we got the ball back. But then when Skylar went to the line, it wiped out everything.”
There was no review mechanism available in the final two minutes to overturn the ruling. The decision stood. The boos, confusion and disbelief rolled around the stands.
Roth declined to comment on the controversy after the game.
King, though frustrated, refused to hang the loss on that moment.
“At the end of the day, that has nothing to do with the final result. You don’t want to put your team in this situation where we have to rely on a play like that. So that’s not what decided the game at all,” he said.
He had a point. Phoenix had already coughed up a 52-38 halftime advantage and been outscored 58-39 after the break.
JackJumpers’ shorthanded fightback
Lost beneath the rules drama was a classic JackJumpers performance: stubborn, physical, and unshaken by adversity.
Tasmania entered the night without Josh Bannan, Ben Ayre, Anthony Drmic and Bryce Hamilton. Roth’s rotation was thin. His margin for error even thinner.
The response was pure Roth.
Tasmania tightened the screws defensively after halftime, turning Phoenix’s early rhythm into rushed looks and broken sets. The JackJumpers chipped away, then surged, feeding off a crowd that sensed something building.
Import David Johnson lit the fuse. He poured in 26 points, added six rebounds and six assists, and shot a blistering 10-of-15 from the field. Whenever Tasmania needed a basket, Johnson found space, a seam, or a mismatch.
On debut, Taran Armstrong looked like he’d been running the JackJumpers’ offence for years. The young guard dropped 19 points, attacking gaps and playing with a poise that belied the occasion.
Will Magnay, still on restricted minutes, made his time count. He finished with 14 points, four rebounds and six assists, anchoring the interior and keeping Phoenix honest at both ends.
Tasmania’s second-half surge turned a comfortable Phoenix lead into a tense, possession-by-possession grind. By the time the final minute arrived, the JackJumpers were the team dictating terms.
Phoenix let it slip
For Phoenix, the ending was messy, but the damage started much earlier.
Angus Glover had set them up brilliantly. Coming off the bench, he torched Tasmania in the first half and finished with 21 points, punishing slow rotations and loose coverage.
Mays added 18 points, six rebounds and two assists, working his way into the game as Phoenix built that 14-point buffer. For long stretches, South East Melbourne looked the sharper, more connected team.
Then Tasmania’s defensive pressure climbed. Phoenix’s offence stalled. The ball stopped moving. The JackJumpers smelled blood and the game flipped.
By the time the disruptive-foul chaos erupted, Phoenix were already clinging on.
A season tone-setter
Controversy will dominate the talk shows and the fan forums. Was the rule too harsh? Should there be more leeway in the final minutes? Did Phoenix get punished for a technicality rather than a basketball play?
The rule, though, is clear. The wrong player shot. Tasmania got the ball. And a sold-out Hobart crowd walked into the night having seen a win that was equal parts guts, confusion and cold-blooded execution.
The JackJumpers now jump straight back on a plane, heading north to face the Cairns Taipans on Wednesday. Phoenix return to Melbourne to meet cross-town rivals Melbourne United at John Cain Arena on Thursday.
Round one, and already the NBL has a flashpoint. How many more nights like this are coming?
