JackJumpers set up epic decider

It was a furious Tasmania JackJumpers entering the game but their composure led by Milton Doyle and Jack McVeigh saw them beat the Perth Wildcats 102-94 and force the Playoffs Series to a decider.

The 'Cats were attempting to close the series out in Hobart on Monday night. They did lead by as much as 12 in the first half, but Doyle took charge in the third quarter with 15 points alone.

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McVeigh (22 points), Majok Deng (18), Sean Macdonald (12, five assists) and Will Magnay (15 points, seven rebounds, four assists) all played pivotal roles with Tasmania outscoring Perth 55 to 42 in the second half.

JackJumpers coach Scott Roth was beaming with pride afterwards.

"It was an incredible building this evening, quite resilient by our group to fight and obviously I'm proud of them and their competitiveness to fight back from a deficit," he said.

"It's just one game but the resilience of this group was outstanding."

While the opening game in Perth was dramatic with the home team finishing the better, it was over the weekend where the tensions built.

An unsportsmanlike foul late in the game on Tasmania centre Marcus Lee became a one-game suspension by Sunday and the JackJumpers didn’t like how it unfolded.

There were 4340 at MyState Bank Arena to get behind their team and welcome the Wildcats on Monday night, but Perth shook that off and took control with the first six points.

That lead was 11-4 when Bryce Cotton landed a three ball with the visitors still up 29-21 after one on the back of 14 free-throws to one.

That Perth lead was still 52-47 by half-time, but Tasmania hit the last five points including a triple on the buzzer from captain Clint Steindl (seven points) to grab some momentum.

After superstar guards Cotton and Milton Doyle combined for just 27 points on 7-of-28 shooting in the opening game, they starred this time around and put on quite the show.

Four-time MVP Cotton had 26 points for the 'Cats while Doyle fired up with those 15 third quarter points on his way to 24 points and six rebounds with 4-of-9 from deep.

That helped the JackJumpers grab the lead and eventually they wore the Wildcats down.

Another triple from Steindl with six minutes to play pushed Tasmania to a seven-point lead, Macdonald stretched it to nine and they went on to win by eight to force a decider.

Kristian Doolittle had 20 points and nine rebounds for Perth with Game 1 hero Keanu Pinder only playing 13 and-a-half minutes for seven points and five boards.

Perth coach John Rillie quickly turned attention to the decider.

"It's playoff basketball, that's what the first two games have been," he said.

"I did like the way we got out of the gate, but we're at the time of the year where you have two good teams playing against each other so I would expect a very good contest.

"Game 3, let's go."

The winner on Wednesday night in Perth will play the victor of the game three also between Melbourne United and the Illawarra Hawks on Wednesday.

HUNGRY JACKS NBL PLAYOFFS GAME 2 

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 102 (Doyle 26, McVeigh 22, Deng 18)

PERTH WILDCATS 94 (Cotton 26, Doolittle 20, T Webster 9, H Harris 9)

BOX SCORE