Tigers through to NBL grand final - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Tigers through to NBL grand final

By Wayne Heming 28/02/2008 11:01:39 PM Comments (0)

Melbourne centre Chris Anstey could find himself in hot water after giving Brisbane fans the one finger salute following tonight's Tigers' heart-stopping 115-112 overtime win that gave them a berth in the NBL grand final.

A defiant Anstey raised the middle finger on both hands to the crowd shortly after helping Melbourne end the defending champions' season and is sure to come under scrutiny by league officials.

He also accused Brisbane fans of being "sore losers" in a post-match interview.

The match was fiercely contested with the scores locked 101-101 after regular time, before the Tigers showed greater poise in the extra period to sweep the series 2-0.

Melbourne, who took the opening clash 116-98 at The Cage last night, will now play either Sydney or Perth, whose semi-final stands at 1-1 with the decider on Saturday night.

"Our self belief got us over the line," said Tigers coach Al Westover.

Anstey shared game high honours with 26 points (13 rebounds) with Dave Thomas, who made some massive baskets in the final quarter after Brisbane got out to an eight-point lead late in the final term.

Tigers import Sean Lampley, a former NBA player with Miami and Golden State, incited Brisbane fans in the third quarter to the point where he was booed for the entire last term.

Lampley lit up in the third term and after each score turned towards Brisbane's bench and taunted their fans, openly glaring at Bullets coach Joey Wright during his one man comeback crusade.

At one point the 28-year-old forward hung off the ring and roared at Brisbane's bench.

"It drives me," said Lampley explaining his antics which riled Brisbane fans.

"I like getting into the fans and it was just my time to get hot with the ball and I made some big shots."

Bullets guard Mick Hill said Lampley had been disrespectful on Brisbane's court.

"I said to the guys someone needs to take it back at this guy he's basically disrespecting us on our home floor," said Hill after the loss.

"We tried to do that for the most part, but it didn't come off."

Brisbane star Ebi Ere, who turned in his worst performance of the season the previous night in Brisbane's game one loss, came out swinging.

He made the first basket of the night beating two defenders off the dribble before stripping the ball in the next play for teammate Adam Gibson to give the Bullets a flying 4-0 start.

The contest remained tight with Brisbane getting out to a 14-10 lead before the Tigers surged through a three-pointer to Thomas which put them ahead 18-16.

Two quick-fire threes from Brad Williamson sparked Brisbane into action midway through the second quarter but the Tigers managed to cut a 12-point deficit to just five points at halftime.

Brisbane held sway for most of the final two quarters before the Tigers rallied to force overtime, eventually winning by three points.

Bullets coach Joey Wright said he was "deflated" but felt his players had played hard against a hungry Tigers outfit.

"In reality we've had a great year, but right now, it's hard to feel that way," he said.

Wright said Thomas had been the difference with his big plays down the stretch.

"I think Melbourne have a real good chance of taking the championship now.

"Dave Thomas is the difference.

"He worked through some knee issues ... played three weeks and looked horrible and couldn't move.

"He was the difference tonight."

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news