South East Melbourne Phoenix have further underlined their NBL title credentials by demolishing the sick-and-sorry Tasmania JackJumpers 116-80.
After leading by just one point at half-time in front of a sellout crowd of 3422 at Melbourne's State Basketball Centre on Saturday, the Phoenix put their foot down and destroyed the JackJumpers 80-35 after the intermission.
Matt Hurt scored 29 points, while fellow import Joe Wieskamp added 20 points with five blocks for the fifth-placed, finals-bound Phoenix.
"Until 2:28 (left) in the second quarter we were playing lethargic and going through the motions, waiting for them to give us the game," South East Melbourne coach Josh King said after the match.
"We made a couple of substitutions (late in the second quarter), in particular Matt Kenyon, and he picked up the level and everybody followed him.
"From that point on, we dominated the game and wore them down."
American guard Jordon Crawford had 18 points for the seventh-ranked JackJumpers, whose title defence is in tatters after slumping to 12-14 with their fourth successive defeat.
Tasmania, already down key players Will Magnay (fractured toe), Sean Macdonald (foot) and Majok Deng (ankle), suffered a further blow when Anthony Drmic was a late withdrawal with illness.
The Jackies fought hard early, development guard Nick Stoddart scoring eight points in the first five minutes to give his side a 19-13 edge.
The opening term was played on Tasmania's defensive terms and the visitors led 23-19 at quarter-time, before drawing further clear late in the second stanza, 43-36.
Hurt got South East Melbourne going, piloting a 10-2 run to close the half, which edged the home side just in front.
The match was never remotely close again.
Quiet early, Wieskamp peeled off 12 points in the third period, while Jordie Hunter was proving too big and strong inside as the Phoenix rode their aggression in the paint to a 29-17 quarter and a 75-62 lead.
It got even uglier for Tasmania in the fourth quarter, Phoenix scoring 16 of the first 17 points.
The hosts hit their first seven three-pointers without a miss for the quarter, which they completely dominated 40-18.
"We played two and a half quarters of halfway decent basketball," JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.
"But ultimately we can't score at any kind of rate.
"We have three more games ahead of us ... our margin of error is zero."
