Import Milton Doyle has evoked comparisons to legendary Leroy Loggins while helping the Tasmania JackJumpers steamroll the Brisbane Bullets 99-84 at Nissan Arena.
Sunday's contest was in the balance with the Bullets up 80-78 midway through the fourth quarter before Doyle (33 points, nine rebounds) assumed total control, piloting a 14-0 burst amid an overall 21-4 run to blow the final margin out.
His brilliance earned praise from NBL legend and ESPN television commentator Andrew Gaze, who gushed that Doyle had "a little bit of Leroy Loggins about him".
"He (Doyle) is really good, he fits the MO of this group and we did a lot of homework on him to bring him in," JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.
"He's a quiet assassin, a quiet leader for us. He was fantastic."
Nathan Sobey (20 points) did his best to cajole the hosts, whose fourth-quarter capitulation didn't truly reflect how evenly fought the majority of the match was.
With twin towers Aron Baynes (back) and Tyrell Harrison (knee) missing through injury, athletic centre Gorjok Gak (14 points, nine boards) stepped up with three early dunks while sixth man Tyler Johnson (17 points) attacked off the bench to put the Bullets in front 27-24 at quarter-time.
The JackJumpers trailed by 11 points early before Doyle sparked their second-quarter surge.
Doyle and DJ Mitchell (16 points) repeatedly exchanged buckets as the lead changed hands seven times in the last two minutes of a high-octane, attack-orientated opening half, at the end of which scores were fittingly tied, at 54-all.
The third term was a more physical, defensive affair, with Sobey elevating his game, pumping up the fans and providing baskets when needed, just as Tasmania threatened to assert themselves.
Jason Cadee shook off an ankle scare early in the fourth period as neither side could gain an edge before Doyle seized control.
He lobbed two alley-oops to Will Magnay, finished brilliantly when driving in traffic, and drained a long-range three-pointer to leave Brisbane shell-shocked.
Despite running out of steam with the finish line in sight, Bullets caretaker coach Sam Mackinnon was proud of the way his undermanned side fought until then.
"I loved the way we played," he said.
"The next man up mentality, everyone competed, I thought for 37 minutes we were pretty good."
