Basketball On The Internet.

FROM the moment United captain and MVP contender Chris Goulding outmanouvred a 3-point conscious Matt Kenyon by driving past him for the opening basket of last night's NBL Throwdown 23, it was clear South East Melbourne was going to be in a bucketload of trouble.  

Baskets by Luke Travers, Matthew Dellavedova and then a Goulding threeball blew it out further to 9-2 and the Phoenix's home game was about to devolve into its worst of the year.

Kyle Bowen came off Melbourne's bench and went to work, stealing the ball from Mitch Creek and scoring his 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting, with five boards and an assist in 16:31 of action.

He was just one of seven Melbourne players scoring in double figures, Ian Clark nailing 6-of-9 from the floor for his 15 points, with 3-of-4 threes.

Ariel Hukporti went 4-of-4 from the floor, with eight rebounds, and fellow twin tower Jo Lual-Acuil had 17 points with seven rebounds and seven blocks.

Creek running into early foul trouble and three in the first half meant the Phoenix's best player spent a lot of time spectating while Melbourne ran further beyond reach.

United's 35-18 first quarter moved on to a whopping 46-23 buffer during the second and its biggest lead was out to 33 before very late baskets, most notably a couple of threes from Rhys Vague, helped created the final scoreline.

Goulding swished a couple of mesmerising triples, one working over Alan Williams and the other just an under-pressure gem few others could have made. He is simply playing at a different level.

Williams' 12 points came off a dismal 4-of-17 shooting but there was plenty of reason to cower after the main interval as both sides struggled dismally to score.

Melbourne's 66-point first half was its best of the season. Its 11-point third quarter its single worst but even though Phoenix had Gary Browne making some shots and dragging the margin back to 13, was never truly in it.

United's 29-14 last quarter was considerably more reflective of the way it controlled the contest, South East desperately in need of new import Abdel Nader for its match with Illawarra in Traralgon. 

MELBOURNE UNITED 106 (Lual-Acuil 17, Clark, Goulding 15, Travers 13, Bowen, Hukporti 12, Ili 10; Hukporti 8 rebs; Dellavedova 8 assts) d SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 78 (Browne 22, Creek, Williams 12, Ayre 11; Williams 16 rebs; Creek 6 assts) at John Cain Arena. Crowd: 7,672