Incredible moment basketball player sinks last-second winner from 43 METRES to put his team on the verge of championship

The Tasmanian JackJumpers are one win away from claiming their first NBL title after Jack McVeigh’s late three-pointer sealed a 93-91 victory over Melbourne United in game three of the Championship Series.

McVeigh made a prayer from well behind the three-point line after Matthew Dellavedova fumbled an inbounds pass with just seconds left.

The gunshot echoed, sparking wild scenes among the traveling contingent of JackJumpers fans in the crowd of 10,175 at the sold-out John Cain Arena on Sunday.

The lead changed hands seven times in a frenetic final three and a half minutes before McVeigh settled a thrilling contest from nearly halfway across the court.

“Our guys were very brave at the right times and kept competing and found ways,” Tasmanian coach Scott Roth said.

“Jack took a great shot and I feel sorry for them (Melbourne) because I’ve lost games like that when you think you’ve got it.”

“But our determination and guts were showing and the fight was really good.”

Tasmania leads 2-1 in the best-of-five series, which returns to Hobart for game four on Thursday night.

If necessary, the fifth match will be played in Melbourne next Sunday.

McVeigh finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds in a strong Game 3 performance that included eight offensive rebounds.

Majok Deng (15 points) was also vital when asked to come off the bench after import center Marcus Lee limped off with a leg injury during the third quarter.

Roth’s small lineup worked, with Deng as his five-man, while Jordon Crawford and Milton Doyle finished with 14 points each.

Doyle, who was in foul trouble throughout the game, prevented Dellavedova’s inbounds pass from going out in a crucial decision that led to McVeigh’s game-winning goal.

“I saw Sean (Macdonald) jump and I couldn’t tell if he touched him or not, but I wasn’t going to let the referees make a decision,” Doyle said.

‘I put it away, I looked and saw Jack and we gave him the ball.

“I knew whoever got it could make a play with six seconds left on the clock.”

Dellavedova (21 points) and captain Chris Goulding (17) led Melbourne’s scoring, while Luke Travers (14 points, eight rebounds, four blocks) was influential on both ends of the floor.

Melbourne allowed the JackJumpers to grab 21 offensive rebounds to 10 and the visitors made 16 of 33 three-point attempts.

“That’s what they’ve done all year and it was a huge factor in the game,” United coach Dean Vickerman said.

“The two areas you need to be good at against this team are how to box and how to protect the three-point line, and we weren’t good enough at either of those.”

Veteran guard Dellavedova was “very disappointed and frustrated” by the loss and took some of the blame.

“(It was) obviously a bad pass, Jack made a great shot, but now we just have to recover and focus to see what we can do better there (in Hobart),” Dellavedova said.

Lee was injured when his teammate Crawford fell and collided with his left leg, leaving the big man on the ground in pain.

Lee has not yet been ruled out for the remainder of the series and will face further assessment on Monday when the JackJumpers return to Hobart.