BOXSCORE

A cold-blooded Liam Rush buried 10 points in the final term as the Melbourne Tigers extinguished the Gold Coast Blaze 79-72 at “The Furnace” on Saturday night.

The Tigers trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and looked finished before Rush (20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and Daniel Dillon (13 points, 7 rebounds) joined Cameron Tragardh (25 points, 6 rebounds) in defiance of the home side’s dominance.

While Tragardh was a constant throughout the match, it was the defensive spark of Dillon and Rush either side of half-time that turned the tide on a Gold Coast outfit looking ominous on offence. The home side managed just six points in the third term.

Going into the decisive final term the Gold Coast held a slender 58-55 lead but key shooters Chris Goulding (9 points) and Mark Worthington (22 points, 8 rebounds) went cold with the game on the line as Rush took control.

Fittingly, former Gold Coast playmaker Ayinde Ubaka put the final nail in the coffin with an amazing, buzzer-beating long two in the closing moments.

The Tigers started the match in rhythm but the Blaze were the first to open a large advantage on the back of Goulding’s hot hand.

So often the spark to fire the Blaze, Goulding came off the bench and snatched a steal to go the length of the court before lobbing an alley-oop for Anthony Petrie, then drilled a long-range jumpshot from the corner.

That spark was sadly lacking in the second half as Melbourne turned the game into a dour struggle, emerging victorious from the physical arm-wrestle.

The Tigers hold on to third spot with a record of 9-6 while the Gold Coast drop to 6-6.

Melbourne Tigers 79 (Tragardh 25, Rush 20, Ubaka 15)
Gold Coast Blaze 72 (Worthington 22, Petrie 15)

Crowd: 4255 at Gold Coast Convention Centre