‘Absolutely wild’ half-court scene as superstar sparks NBL buzzer ‘insanity’ before cruel twist

It will not ease the pain of losing the NBL grand final earlier this year.

But Melbourne United finally shook off bogey team Illawarra on Friday night, outlasting the Hawks 105-102 in a thriller at WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, but they needed every last second of the 40 minutes.

Illawarra appeared to have forced overtime when JaVale McGee connected with a half-court heave at the buzzer, but after video review, it was ruled to have left his hands after time had expired and United survived.

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Including the last two games of the 2024-25 grand final series in March, and their first meeting this season earlier this month, United had lost three straight to the Hawks and four of their past five before tip-off on Friday.

But the class of Chris Goulding (23 points) and Milton Doyle (19), and clutch three-point shooting by Finn Delany (13) and Tanner Krebs (12), helped Melbourne overcome the defending champions and improve their league-leading record to 12-2 ahead of a home game against Perth on Sunday before the FIBA break.

It was Illawarra’s third straight loss and, despite a more energetic performance, left the Hawks languishing with a 4-9 record before their next game against South East Melbourne Phoenix on December 4.

McGee (28 points, 11 rebounds) and guards QJ Peterson (22 points) and Davo Hickey (18 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists) kept Illawarra in the game.

Peterson, who equalled his career high of 22 points, hit three triples in the final quarter.

Illawarra looked gone midway through the third term, trailing 73-65, but rallied with a 14-2 run to cut Melbourne’s lead to 86-83 by three-quarter time.

The teams then traded baskets in a seesawing final period before United edged ahead 99-95 with four minutes remaining.

Hickey’s tip-in of a Tyler Harvey miss put the Hawks in front 102-101 with 29 seconds to go, then Melbourne responded with a Delany corner three for a 104-102 lead with 17.5 seconds left, forcing Hawks coach Justin Tatum to call time out.

Harvey’s potential game-tying floater rimmed out with 1.9 seconds on the clock, Jesse Edwards made one of two free throws, then McGee’s three-point heave from halfway was waved off, but not before the entire arena erupted in a chaotic scene.

OFF AND RUNNING

Defence was not a priority for either team in the first quarter, as they piled up 71 points between them and Melbourne established a 38-33 lead.

It was Melbourne’s highest-scoring quarter of the season and, for Illawarra, a significant improvement on their previous home game against Sydney five days earlier, when they could only manage 32 points in the entire first half.

Referees blew 14 fouls in the quarter and the teams shot a combined 18 of 21 from the free-throw line.

The points blitz continued in the second term as Melbourne overcame a sluggish start to rally with a 12-3 run midway through the period to take a 58-52 lead into the main break.

“No shortage of scoring but not enough defence from our perspective,” Goulding told Fox Sports at halftime.

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SHINING STARS

Goulding has long been lambasted as a pantomime villain by Hawks fans, and has endured some cold shooting nights on recent trips to Wollongong.

But the veteran sharpshooter put all that behind him to hit his first five three-point shots for a game-high 18 points by halftime to give his side the ascendancy.

Hawks big man JaVale McGee was held to just nine points and nine rebounds and fouled out in Illawarra’s 98-71 loss to the Kings last Sunday, then had 12 and 10 on four-of-18 shooting when beaten 97-85 by the 36ers in Adelaide on Wednesday.

But McGee was back to his slam-dunking best against Melbourne, shooting a perfect seven from seven in the first half – including a three-pointer – on his way to 16 points.