Tasmania has completed one of the greatest resurrections to ever occur in April as they maintained their finals chances with an 84-80 win over South East Melbourne.
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While many a miracle is claimed to have occurred over Easter, few have occurred on a basketball court quite like the JackJumpers who brought their finals hopes back to life with an utterly dominant third term.
Before the main break, the JackJumpers needed a shooting miracle after 11 straight misses and the bearded veteran Jarrad Weeks delivered one with a buzzer-beater three-pointer to spark the belief.
The spark transformed into an unstoppable flame as the JackJumpers put the Phoenix to the sword with a 32-18 term as they stormed into the lead from a 12-point deficit at the main break.
A visibly emotional Scott Roth praised his squad for their third term fightback.
"I am proud, these guys have been incredible, it's emotional for me, to invest the way we've invested in each other and they're an amazing group," he said.
"We were a little bit out of character, giving up 48 points is not normally what we would be doing, I challenged these guys at half-time to clean up a few areas.
"I reminded them that we were on-track to lay another egg here, no pun intended with Easter, but we were on-track to not do very well and these guys just responded to a bit of a pep talk."
The JackJumpers' performance bucked the trend against the Phoenix given the Tasmania had lost the side's previous clashes due to blowouts in the third term.
Jack McVeigh (26 points, nine rebounds) was the main catalyst as the former Adelaide 36er proved to have the Midas touch from beyond the arc in the best game of his career.
Once McVeigh found his range and rhythm, the options opened up for Tasmania as Josh Magette (12 points) and Josh Adams (23 points) also banked three-pointers in the term.
Their sizzling form in the attack was matched by the return of their frantic defensive pressure as Phoenix's Xavier Munford was effectively frozen out of the term with Mitch Creek (27 points) carrying the load.
The fourth term had everyone, even former premier David Bartlett, out of their seats as both sides traded shots in a tense affair. For all the attacking fireworks from beyond the arc, Josh Adams' high-flying block on Creek secured Tasmania's sweet 16th win of the competition.
There was special praise for the JackJumpers' man of the match in McVeigh, who has enjoyed a career renaissance since crossing from Adelaide to Tasmania before the season.
The 25-year-old set a career-high in points scored and at one stage looked like he would become the second JackJumper to top the 30-point mark in a match, behind Adams.
It was not to be but the performance was the pay-off for the hours McVeigh spends off-court tweaking and improving his game.
From visualisation to journaling and watching a greater amount of tape, McVeigh is leaving no stone unturned in Tasmania.
"It feels good, I do my writing every morning and I look in the mirror [saying] 'I make big shots' I say it all the time, everyone makes fun of me and to come out there [but] make some big shots and help us get the win, that's every five-year-old's dream," he said.
"The coach challenged me at the start of the year, he said 'you gotta be better if you want to play for me', you have to play defence and I trusted him and we do a lot of defence.
"I think it helped me a lot, really learning the concepts and watching a lot more film than I ever have and Clint [Steindl] talking to me and the assistant coaches staying on me that was the process that helped me to play today."
Roth heaped praise on one of his "underdogs" who is in the conversation as the league's most improved player.
"[McVeigh's] made a huge sacrifice, when I talked with him I said you're no longer going to be a three you're going to be a four and he was probably the one who made the biggest adjustment in terms of sliding over a position," he said.
"We knew he was capable, I did too, and as long as I am in a JackJumper seat coaching him he ain't going nowhere.
"He's been fantastic, his personality is infectious, he's a pro, he's still learning and he's young and I am excited about his future."
The comeback win means the JackJumpers' finals hopes will come down to the wire with a home game against Melbourne United on April 23.
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