Jesse Edwards has emerged triumphant in a tantalising battle with Tasmania JackJumpers ailing captain Will Magnay, proving instrumental in Melbourne United's crucial 79-77 bounce-back win at HoopsFest in Perth.
Edwards had nine early points for Melbourne along with two quick fouls, but he only picked up one more foul the rest of the game as he finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds at RAC Arena on Saturday, helping Melbourne earn a critical win after losing eight of their past 10 matches.
He came up big in the final minute, making a crucial block on Josh Bannan that was to pave the way for their two-point victory.
It keeps United in fourth place at 16-10, with Tasmania remaining sixth at 12-14 and now facing a nervous wait after Magnay hobbled off with a foot injury late after having 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
JackJumpers coach Scott Roth feared the worst about Magnay's foot, saying: "I don't know until we get back to Hobart, but it's probably not going to be very good."
Every time the two teams play, it follows a familiar physical, tight and generally low-scoring path, and even on neutral territory in Perth for the second-straight year, it was no different.
There was plenty at stake for both teams too with Melbourne trying to arrest their slide and Tasmania attempting to keep building momentum.
Melbourne went into quarter-time with the narrow 23-21 lead after a three on the buzzer from Tyson Walker.
But United pushed out to a nine-point lead in the second period after triples from Tanner Krebs, Kyle Bowen and Walker.
The JackJumpers responded, going into half-time on a 13-5 run to be only down by one, and things remained tight and physical through the third quarter with Melbourne up by two heading into the fourth.
Melbourne had the answers, though, with Edwards adding another seven points while former JackJumper Milton Doyle landed the killer blow.
Walker also finished with 14 points, six assists and four rebounds for Melbourne while Doyle ended up with 13 points, five boards and two assists, and Chris Goulding nine points on 3-of-8 three-point shooting.
Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman especially liked his team pulling down 17 offensive rebounds in the win.
"There was just a concerted effort to be a better rebounding team and that area of the game was what I was super pleased with," he said.
"We got together as a group, and said that we might not have an MVP candidate, and we need everybody. Everyone came in and made a contribution."
Bryce Hamilton had 17 points while Nick Marshall added 11 points and six boards for the JackJumpers on top of another solid job defensively on Goulding.
