Tasmania JackJumpers Stun Phoenix in NBL Opener

The Tasmania JackJumpers walked out of MyState Bank Arena with a 96-91 win, a roaring home crowd behind them and the NBL world arguing over a rulebook twist that flipped the game in the final minute.

It was loud. It was fiery. And with 32 seconds left, it turned downright bizarre.

A steal, a whistle, and a rule that changed everything

Tasmania led 91-89 when South East Melbourne Phoenix import D’Shawn Schwartz hounded Nick Marshall up the floor and ripped the ball loose with sharp, physical defence. Marshall reached in to stop the break and was hit with a foul that, after review, was upgraded to a disruptive foul under the new FIBA guidelines.

So far, so clear. Schwartz had been fouled. Two free throws coming. A chance to tie the game in front of a stunned, sold-out Hobart crowd.

Then Skylar Mays walked to the stripe.

He took the ball, set himself as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Under FIBA rules, it wasn’t. The player who is fouled must take the free throws. Schwartz should have been at the line.

The officials didn’t pick it up. Tasmania did.

Scott Roth and forward Josh Bannan immediately flagged it, pointing out that Mays was not the correct shooter. That protest forced the referees back to the monitor and deep into the FIBA manual.

Under rule 45.4.3, if the wrong player attempts a free throw, the shot is cancelled and the opposition is awarded possession from the free-throw line extended. Crucially, this only applies when the wrong player goes to the line on his own. If the referees had directed Mays there, they could have corrected the mistake.

They hadn’t. Mays had gone there himself. Once he attempted the free throw, the rule kicked in.

The Phoenix lost the free throws. They lost the ball. In a two-point game, with the clock bleeding away, that felt seismic.

“Very confusing. I’ve never seen... I have to get some clarity behind it,” Phoenix coach Josh King said afterwards, still trying to piece it all together.

“I think the way I understood it, they said it was our ball. It was two shots and the ball I think? I think what Skylar thought is anybody could shoot because it was a unsportsmanlike foul and we got the ball back. But then when Skylar went to the line, it wiped out everything.”

There was no late-game review mechanism to overturn the ruling. The call stood. Tasmania ball. Phoenix fans fuming, JackJumpers fans in disbelief.

Roth declined to weigh in on the drama post-game, leaving the rulebook to do the talking.

Phoenix collapse as JackJumpers turn the screws

For all the confusion, King refused to let that moment become the story of the night.

“At the end of the day, that has nothing to do with the final result. You don’t want to put your team in this situation where we have to rely on a play like that. So that’s not what decided the game at all,” he said.

He had a point.

South East Melbourne led 52-38 at halftime. They were in control, moving the ball, punishing Tasmania’s mistakes and riding a blistering first half from Angus Glover, who came off the bench to pour in 21 points for the game.

Then the second half arrived, and Tasmania did what Tasmania under Scott Roth so often do: they tightened the screws.

The JackJumpers outscored the Phoenix 58-39 after the break. They turned a 14-point deficit into a statement win, built on defensive pressure and relentless pace, even while missing Josh Bannan, Ben Ayre, Anthony Drmic and Bryce Hamilton.

The island mentality kicked in. So did their imports.

Johnson catches fire, Armstrong announces himself

David Johnson owned the night.

The Tasmania import torched the Phoenix with 26 points, six rebounds and six assists, shooting a clinical 10-of-15 from the field. He scored at all three levels, hit tough shots when the offence bogged down and repeatedly punished Phoenix breakdowns.

Every time South East Melbourne looked like steadying, Johnson found another answer.

On debut, Taran Armstrong played with the swagger of someone who’d been in the league for years. He added 19 points, attacking gaps, pushing tempo and refusing to let the Phoenix settle into any kind of rhythm.

Behind them, Will Magnay, still on restricted minutes, made his presence felt with 14 points, four rebounds and six assists. His passing from the high post opened lanes, his size altered shots, and his minutes carried real weight.

For the Phoenix, Mays still put up a solid line — 18 points, six rebounds, two assists — but his night will be remembered for the rule that erased his trip to the line at the worst possible moment.

A night that won’t be forgotten quickly

The controversy will live on in highlight packages and talkback debates, but inside MyState Bank Arena the scoreboard said enough: Tasmania 96, South East Melbourne 91.

A shorthanded JackJumpers group had stared down a double-digit deficit, absorbed a chaotic finish and still found a way to “defend the island” to open their NBL27 campaign.

Now comes the real test of their resilience. A quick flight north and a Wednesday clash with the Cairns Taipans awaits.

For the Phoenix, it’s a long trip back to Melbourne and a short turnaround before a Thursday showdown with cross-town rivals Melbourne United at John Cain Arena.

They won’t just be reviewing film of blown coverages and missed box-outs.

They’ll be rewinding that final minute, that walk to the free-throw line, and asking themselves how a night that started so smoothly managed to slip through their fingers.