South East Melbourne's new coach Josh King has heaped praise on his players after they pipped NBL champions Tasmania 79-77 in his first game at the helm.
The lead changed multiple times in the final two minutes at Launceston's Silverdome on Friday night before Nathan Sobey nailed what proved the winning lay-up with 22 seconds left.
Tasmania couldn't muster a miracle on the final play and now sit second last on the ladder with just three wins from nine games in their title defence.
Bottom of the table before the round, the Phoenix have risen to 3-6 after a horror 0-5 start to the season, which led to them sacking coach Mike Kelly.
They earned two wins under interim coach Sam Mackinnon before Indiana-born King was appointed to the top job in late October.
"I was standing up, but these guys won the game," King told reporters.
"They’ve played really well as a team the last couple of weeks. These guys want to keep getting better and keep climbing the ladder.
"I've got a good group of guys, they’ve welcomed me with open arms. They’ve made it an easy transition."
Phoenix forward Matt Hurt starred, picking up a game-high 24 points and snaffling six rebounds.
Sobey had a mixed game, including being called for a technical foul in the third quarter, but topped the assist count with nine.
Tasmania were ahead by 12 points in the third quarter and appeared on track on the back of Will Magnay (19 points).
The big man spent almost all of the first half on the bench after getting in foul trouble but came to life with the opening six points of the last quarter.
He tied the contest 77-77 with 36 seconds left before Sobey returned serve.
Imports Milton Doyle and Jordan Crawford failed to fire and combined for just 12 points in a Tasmania outfit that shot at 36 per cent from the field.
"We’ve been competing very well the last two or three weeks, but it comes down to lapses of not executing offensively," JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.
"When you have a shooting night like that it is extremely hard to overcome."
Tasmania pulled away at the end of the second quarter for a seven-point halftime lead after a sloppy opening quarter that ended 19-19.
But the Phoenix, who have jumped up to seventh on the table, kept chipping away and trailed by just 57-55 at the end of the third.
