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Melbourne United cruise past Kings to maintain unbeaten run
Steve Barrett, AAP • October 9th, 2025 12:20 am
Tyson Walker had a breakout performance for Melbourne in the 14-point win over Sydney | Photo: James Ross/AAP
Championship favourites Melbourne defied a pair of key absences to keep their NBL unbeaten record intact, launching their Ignite Cup campaign with a 107-93 win over Sydney at Qudos Bank Arena.
After a closely contested first half, United jetted away from the Kings (1-2) with a commanding 31-19 third quarter before ultimately collecting six of the seven points on offer in the league's new in-season tournament.
Guard Tyson Walker (27 points, 5-of-9 three-pointers) enjoyed a breakout performance, while fellow import Jesse Edwards (22 points, 12 rebounds) was unstoppable inside.
Melbourne advanced impressively to 4-0 despite being without two of their mainstays - long-serving captain Chris Goulding is yet to play this season due to a quad issue and Shea Ili sidelined after suffering a hamstring injury in last week's NBLxNBA clash with the New Orleans Pelicans.
"I'm never going to talk about who's missing - I'm going to talk about who's here and how good they were," United coach Dean Vickerman said proudly.
"People stepping up is part of this league. "Really good contributions from a lot of people tonight."
Dash Daniels was strong in defence for Melbourne United | Photo: James Ross/AAP
Kendric Davis's 21-point haul for Sydney came on a sickly 28 per cent, thanks in part to the swarming defence of Dash Daniels, the 17-year-old brother of NBA star Dyson Daniels.
Xavier Cooks also had 21 points, along with 10 boards, but his free-throw woes continued, going 1-of-10 from the stripe to take his season tally to 1-of-14.
Melbourne closed a seesawing opening term on a 9-2 burst to lead 29-25.
Their advantage grew to 33-25 before Sydney responded with a 10-0 run to pinch the lead back.
Matthew Dellavedova's layup on the cusp of half-time edged the Kings in front 52-50, but the third term belonged to United.
Xavier Cooks had 21 points and 10 boards for the Kings but battled with free throws | Photo: Lukas Coch/AAP
Walker and Edwards stood tall, while Milton Doyle's stepback trey on the three-quarter-time buzzer gave Melbourne an 81-71 cushion.
Tim Soares and Dellavedova, who was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul when he dipped his shoulder into Walker's torso, both fouled out in the fourth as Sydney were unable to eat into the deficit.
"The tide turned in a four-minute (third-quarter stretch), and from that point we were chasing our tail," Kings coach Brian Goorjian said.
"When it's bad, it looked bad. Too much dribble, too much one-on-one, the ball stopped popping."
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