A 50-point outburst from Chris Goulding has all but secured the Melbourne Tigers a spot in the 2014 NBL playoffs.
The star guard’s scoring binge came at the expense of the Sydney Kings in a 92-82 win which included a ridiculous nine three-pointers, making Goudling’s epic night the first 50-point game since the league introduced 40-minute games.
The league’s leading scorer, Goulding shot 20-33 from the field in front of 7,532 fans at Hinense Arena on Sunday night, but was supported by strong games from veteran Mark Worthington (15 points, 6 rebounds), Tommy Greer (5 rebounds) and nine assists from Nate Tomlinson.
“I think I owe them all a drink,” Goulding laughed.
“It was a weird one because the game was so close, it wasn’t like, ‘Give him the ball and see if he can get to 50’. I could see how many points I had but I wasn’t really thinking about that.
“It was more we needed to get this win, we were trying to get back to the playoffs, trying to get a win at Hisense and trying to get a win against a team we hadn’t beaten all year.”
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Goulding’s 50 came in what was a tight game throughout as Sam Young (22 points) and Ben Magden (19) kept Sydney within striking distance.
“That’s as good an offensive game as I’ve seen,” Tigers coach Chris Anstey said post-game.
“He might have been a little down on confidence for a couple of weeks, or maybe second-guessing himself, but it didn’t seem to me he had any doubt any of them were going in (tonight).”
The Tigers put together a double-win weekend after defeating the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland on Friday night behind 44 fourth-quarter points and a 27-point night from Goulding.
The Tigers are third on the NBL ladder, three wins above the Kings but having played two extra games.
The Perth Wildcats recently wrapped up the NBL minor premiership with Adelaide taking up the second position. Both Wollongong, Cairns and fourth-placed Sydney have 11 wins with two rounds remaining in the regular season.
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Photo: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
