With chants of MVP reverberating from the stands, a fired-up Nathan Sobey has put on a masterclass to deliver South East Melbourne a wild, temper-frayed 124-113 overtime NBL win over Illawarra.
Sobey racked up 13 of his equal career-high 37 points in the heated extra period after scores had been tied at 106 after four pulsating quarters at Melbourne's State Basketball Centre on Thursday night.
Angus Glover buried a huge three-pointer with 4.8 seconds remaining to put the Phoenix up 106-104, before QJ Peterson equalised for the Hawks via a layup with 2.3 seconds left.
Somehow, the drama escalated from there.
Sobey dominated overtime, throwing down a dunk of the year contender over Mason Peatling, pulling off two more athletic finishes and getting to the foul line repeatedly.
Tensions rose when Sobey responded to being laid out by a Biwali Bayles hip-and-shoulder by grabbing the Hawks guard's uniform with the benches quickly clearing.
After disagreeing with referee Chris Read's non-foul on Sobey for retaliating, Illawarra coach Justin Tatum was hit with a technical foul for yelling to his players: "everytime someone fouls you, grab their f...... jersey."
Sobey and Will Hickey also received technicals for exchanging pleasantries at each other in the melee's aftermath, before the pair again had terse words after the game.
Glover scored 22 for second-placed SEM (16-7), while Sam Froling and Peterson had 22 each for the eighth-ranked Hawks (8-14).
"It was a hard-fought match, back-and-forth ... could have gone either way," Phoenix coach Josh King said.
"In overtime we were able to get some momentum, finally."
Sobey was aggressive from the tip with 11 first-quarter points but the Phoenix had their hands full with Illawarra's twin towers JaVale McGee and Froling in the paint as the Hawks led 25-23 at quarter-time.
Illawarra coughed up seven second-quarter turnovers and trailed 9-2 in offensive rebounds as the Phoenix moved ahead 55-50 at halftime.
The Hawks took better care of the ball after the break, squaring the scores at 79-all, before the two sides again couldn't be separated at the end of regulation.
"We stayed in it with one of the top teams in the league," Tatum said.
"We were one rebound away from potentially winning it."
