Big first half sets up United's eighth straight win

A first half assault has steered Melbourne United to their eight consecutive win as they put the Illawarra Hawks to the sword 87-76 at John Cain Arena on Sunday.

Everything United turned to gold in the early exchanges, dumping eight triples on the road-weary Hawks from 12 attempts and shooting over 80 per cent for much of the first half. 

Jock Landale's consistent season continued as he finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and five assists while Jo Lual-Acuil had a huge game with 15 points and seven rebounds. 

It highlighted how United was able to share the load which allowed Chris Goulding (11 points, four rebounds, three assists) and Yudai Baba (11 points) to chime in as well.

The win temporarily put United at the top of the NBL ladder, whether they stay there depends on the result of Perth Wildcats v New Zealand Breakers match to be played directly afterwards.

The Hawks travelled to Melbourne desperate for a win to reclaim their place in the NBL top four after the Sydney Kings leapfrogged them last night.

Offensively they were able to keep pace, but their defence could do nothing to nullify the Melbourne onslaught. Justinian Jessup toiled for his 19 points, five rebounds and three assists while Tyler Harvey had 17 points including three long bombs. 

Big men Andrew Ogilvy (11 points, six rebounds, three assists) and Sam Froling (11 points, seven rebounds, two assists) toiled in the paint but the damage was all done out wide.

Mason Peatling and Landale took the game on in the early stages, settling the game into a grind and frustrating the Hawks as United eased out to a nine-point lead off the back of some sharp shooting from range.

The game cracked open as Baba splashed yet another United triple following two big bombs from Goulding and a huge block from Landale meant the Hawks were battling on both ends.

Goorjian demanded better defence from his charges and they responded out of the timeout but still it was United with a healthy 30-21 advantage.

Melbourne was sharing the ball well with 10 assists spread over four players while their shooting clip remained at a staggering 80 per cent midway through the second quarter as their lead pushed out to 18.

Illawarra grabbed the last couple of buckets of the quarter but they still went into halftime trailing 56-42 and desperately needing to find answers on the defensive end.

For the first five minutes of the next quarter the Hawks locked on and started to claw their way back. 

But in the blink of an eye Goulding splashed another triple, Landale landed another bucket and the lead was back out to 15. It stayed that way at the final change with the Hawks staring down the barrel of a huge defeat.

The flashy shooting abandoned United in the final quarter and Illawarra had their chances, but they couldn't cash in as the margin stayed at 13 for several minutes. 

Deng Deng splashed a triple that gave his side a sniff of a comeback, but Goulding quickly slammed that door shut the answering three-pointer.

Hawks coach Brian Goorjian said it was always going to be tough playing the top two sides in Perth and United back-to-back on the road, but praised his troops for not giving up.

"A good sign was there was no quit in us," he said.

"They had us by 18, they had us by 16, they are who they are, and they are where they are.

"There were some nice positives, Deng Deng, Naar helped us carry the ball and hit the Justinian and Tyler screens, Grida is starting to come into the group.

"We've got a little bit coming up at home, we're still in this thing. I will take the high road, we are in a good place mentally, the guys fought hard tonight and there was no quit in them."

Deng missed the later exchanges of the game with a suspected quad strain, and will be assessed ahead of the Hawks next match against Sydney at home on Saturday.

Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said it was always the plan to rotate the squad to keep coming at the Hawks with fresh legs.

"I know Illawarra had a tough schedule, the travel back from Perth is a challenge in itself," he said.

"We really wanted to be moving bodies tonight, which was great for our offence early, we played really fast and shot the basketball well.

"At the end of the game, even though we were moving bodies, there was still a fatigue factor.

"It will be good for us. Through this next period, we will have more games (closer) together, the challenge for our guys is to play at a high level, get some rest and trust their teammates."

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 14

MELBOURNE UNITED 87 (Lual-Acuil 15, Landale 13, Goulding 11, Baba 11)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 76 (Jessup 19, Harvey 17, Ogilvy 11, Froling 11) 

BOX SCORE