The Melbourne Tigers' Mark Worthington can't stop the Hawks' Rhys Martin from driving to the basket. Source: George Salpigtidis / News Limited
THE Melbourne Tigers haven't had the league's leading scorer since Andrew Gaze was still doing his thing more than a decade ago.
Yesterday Chris Goulding again showed why he is the man to change that statistic.
After an indifferent start - his first points came from a three-point bomb on the quarter-time buzzer - the Tigers scoring machine flicked the switch and then when the game was on the line delivered to get his team home 81-76 against a dogged Wollongong Hawks.
Goulding finished with his first NBL double-double - 29 points and 12 rebounds - as the Tigers withstood a last quarter comeback to close out their third victory of the season.
While there were several other important contributions including 20 points from Mark Worthington, some improved output from Canadian centre Scott Morrison (12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks) and valuable defensive minutes from youngster Owen Odigie, it was two big plays from Goulding which decided the contest.
With less than two minutes to go the Tigers star drove to the basket, sucking two defenders to him before producing a brilliant no-look behind-the-head pass to Morrison for an easy dunk.
Then with 34 seconds to go and the lead only two points, Goulding wandered into the corner and despite defenders all over him nailed the winning jumper.
Hawks guard Rotnei Clarke, a former US college star with Butler University who led his team with 17 points, summed it up best afterwards: "He (Goulding) is a great player, he takes some tough shots and they go in."
Tigers coach Chris Anstey was happy to mention Goulding, who is averaging 26.6 points this season to lead the NBL in scoring, in the same sentence as Gaze afterwards.
"I don't think this club has had a scorer like him since Andrew Gaze," Anstey said. "That's what he is to us right now at the offensive end, you put the ball in his hands and he creates something.
"Even the bad shots he takes you still expect to go in, and when I say that, they are a bad shot for others but not for him."
It has already been a big year for the Tigers reigning MVP after a workout with NBA star Kyrie Irving earlier in the year led to an invite to the Cleveland Cavaliers' pre-summer league camp and then a spot on the team for its series in Las Vegas.
Worthington, who previously played with Goulding at the Gold Coast, afterwards praised the maturing of his teammate which the man himself admitted was a factor in overcoming his tardy start.
"It is something I have been working on," Goulding, 25, said. "I've realised over the last couple of years that it is a long game, 40 minutes is a long time.
"I think in my earlier years I would have got a bit antsy and tried to force it a little bit but the same thing happened in Adelaide (on Friday night) as well, personally I didn't get off to a great start but it's a long game.
"So I just had to stay in that mindset, try not to force it, take the opportunities when they come."
The victory over the Hawks, who now slip to 1-5, was important for the Tigers given they came up short, 90-87, to the Sixers in Adelaide on Friday night.
Anstey praised his charges for willing themselves over the line given they were once again hampered by injuries with Lucas Walker (illness) sitting out while Nate Tomlinson also battled through a stomach ailment.
"We needed a win, and we ground it out," he said.
The Tigers next game is against the Cairns Taipans on Saturday night at The Cage.
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