Basketball On The Internet.

OWEN Foxwell led South East Melbourne to its historic first win over New Zealand at Auckland's Spark Arena today before United took out the garbage in Melbourne, dumping Cairns' game-plan, terminal execution, statue defence and lack of earnest desire in a dumpster outside John Cain Arena.

The Taipans' performance was so insipid and uninspired even the Cairns Marlins were embarrassed.

Somewhere in the US, Aaron Fearne looked at the dismal final scoreline of United's 95-60 humiliation and even he wondered if the Snakes' offence needs tinkering. Or does it just suck?

Newsflash. It does. But only marginally worse than its defence, Dean Vickerman surely left to believe his professional outfit was merely running a lay-up drill against the thoroughly skinned Taipans.

After Cairns looked competitive for the first five minutes, Melbourne simply did what it had in Sydney to start the round. It upped its intensity defensively, ran hard and moved the ball offensively, basically posing the question: can you go with us?

The answer was a resounding "NO".

Cairns' Marcus Lee threw down a dunk over Jesse Edwards after enduring the same at the other end but ultimately United's import went on to post 16 points at 60 per cent and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes. Lee finished with seven and seven, fouling out after playing 30 fewer seconds.

Aided by eight first quarter Cairns turnovers, by the first break, Melbourne had its lead to 27-15, Chris Goulding back and firing. Tyson Walker, Finn Delany and Tanner Krebs were just having fun and only Dash Daniels restricted by early fouls.

But the Taipans had nothing in reserve and precious little resolve, Jack McVeigh having to work far too hard for all six of his shot attempts. What's the point in recruiting a gun like McVeigh, paying him accordingly, then not running a single play for him?

He has to do everything off the dribble, one-on-one before extra defenders close in on him. If he ever is able to fire up an open shot it's usually because he and Lee run a pick-and-roll from their old Tasmania championship days.

Is it any surprise then he vented his utter frustration with an uncharacteristic off-the-ball unsportsmanlike foul against Goulding ?

Andrew Andrews at PG collected seven turnovers and not all of them were forced, Kyrin Galloway was his customary indolent self, his eight points coming on three made late shots, prior to which he was 0-of-6.

Import Admiral Schofield fouled out with two made free throws, two rebounds and five turnovers. To say the Admiral was all at sea in this shambolical offence would be an understatement.

Kyle Adnam added a little spirit but was determined to go down firing, probably a better strategy if he didn't go solo quite so often for a return of 1-of-8 in 13:35.

Apart from Alex Higgins-Titsha's 16 points at 75 per cent, two blocks, a steal and three rebounds, this was a hideous performance.

Roll out the superlatives for Melbourne, Vickerman clearing his bench and revelling in what his "skins" produced. They entered with a 30-point buffer and pushed that out further to 35 as Cairns' 26 turnovers and Reyne Smith going 0-of-5 took its toll.

In Auckland, Sam Mennenga was enjoying a game for the time capsule, scoring 29 points at 69 per cent, with 11 rebounds, two steals and an assist. But even his finest efforts were unable to sustain the buffer for New Zealand, the 19th lead change seeing South East Melbourne victorious.

Foxwell led from the front with 19 points on 68 per cent shooting, embracing 4-of-6 threes, seven assists and a steal. But it was the defensive job he did on Breakers playmaker Parker Jackson-Cartwright which was so instrumental in the Phoenix breaking their Spark Arena duck.

PJC's ability to get to the hoop and score amid the tall trees is legendary but Foxwell, who had just one turnover, was largely the man responsible for containing him to nine points on 3-of-11 shooting and six turnovers.

Jackson-Cartwright stayed engaged regardless, dishing nine assists and grabbing seven rebounds but Izaiah Brockington was MIA and when coach Petteri Koponen turned to his favourite "three Kiwi-returnees", Izayah Le'Afa, Reuben Te Rangi and Rob Loe gave him a combined 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting, six rebounds and four assists in 48 minutes.

Foxwell's 3-ball gave South East the 76-75 lead at 4:14 left, John Brown connecting on two jumpers before Mennenga tied it up at 80-80.

Nathan Sobey's drive restored the Phoenix lead but it was Malique Lewis boldly banking a 3-pointer for an 85-80 lead which finally sealed it. 

Round 4 (Includes Ignite Cup)

New Zealand Breakers 117 (Mennenga, Jackson-Cartwright 20, Te Rangi 18, Lopez 16, Brockington 14, Davison 12; Lopez 9 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 17 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 88 (Harvey 22, McGee 19, Peatling 14, Swaka Lo Buluk 10; Blanchfield 8 rebs; Harvey 6 assts) at The Breakdance, Spark Arena. Crowd: 3,101. Q-Q: 30-24, 30-25, 27-23, 30-16. Ignite Cup Pts: New Zealand 7, Illawarra 0

Melbourne United 107 (Walker 27, Edwards 22, Doyle 16, Krebs 15; Edwards 12 rebs; Doyle 6 assts) d Sydney Kings 93 (Cooks, Davis 21, Galloway, Dellavedova 12; Cooks 10 rebs; Dellavedova 7 assts) at the Kingdome, Qudos Bank Arena. Crowd: 9,528. Q-Q: 29-25, 21-27, 31-19, 26-22. Ignite Cup Pts: Melbourne 6, Sydney 1

Adelaide 36ers 98 (Cotton 29, Humphries 24, Vasiljevic 13, Cameron 12; Cheatham 9 rebs; Cotton 9 assts) d Tasmania JackJumpers 89 (Hamilton 22, Magnay 17, Bannan 14; Marshall, Magnay 6 rebs; Hamilton 9 assts) at Brett Maher Court, Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 9,320

Perth Wildcats 80 (Lual-Acuil 30, Windler 26, Jones 8; Windler 11 rebs; Windler, Russo-Nance 3 assts) d Cairns Taipans 77 (Andrews 21, Schofield 16, Lee 12, Smith 11; Lee 12 rebs; McVeigh 6 assts) at the Taipanadrome, Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: N/a

Illawarra Hawks 116 (Harvey 22, McGee, Peatling, Blanchfield 13, Bayles, Swaka Lo Buluk 12, Bolden 11; McGee 12 rebs; Harvey 10 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 89 (Prather 28, Patterson 17, Adams 13, Smith-Milner 11; Prather 9 rebs; Patterson 5 assts) at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 4,709

Sydney Kings 103 (Noi 29, Davis 22, Soares 14, Cooks 12; Soares 12 rebs; Dellavedova 7 assts) d Adelaide 36ers 79 (Cameron 15, Vasiljevic 14, Humphries 13; Cameron, Cheatham 8 rebs; 7 assts) on Brett Maher Court, Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 10,021

South East Melbourne Phoenix 87 (Foxwell 19, Sobey 18, Brown, Lewis 13, Hunter 10; Hunter 7 rebs; Foxwell, Sobey 7 assts) d New Zealand Breakers 81 (Mennenga 29, Baker 14, Jackson-Cartwright 9; Mennenga 11 rebs; Jackson-Cartwright 9 assts) at The Breakdance, Spark Arena. Crowd: 4,520

Melbourne United 95 (Edwards, Goulding 16, Walker 12; Edwards 12 rebs; Delany 4 assts) d Cairns Taipans 60 (Higgins-Titsha 16, Andrews 10, McVeigh, Galloway 8; Lee 7 rebs; Andrews 6 assts) at the UN, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 9,233