The electric third quarter performance of NBA import Patrick Mills — with 10 of his night’s 14 points, a steal and some bullet-like passing — lit up the sellout crowd at the Arc.

Mills scored almost half of his side’s third-term points to set-up the decisive break, which saw the Tigers go on to defeat the Sydney Kings 79-62 in the NBL practice match.

While the game was clearly won a long way out, as an exhibition the match was a success with the fans treated to some quality basketball. “I was really happy with our defence intensity,” Warrnambool export Gleeson said.

“Sometimes it’s tough when you have to drive three hours down here — that can be a built-in excuse but I thought we showed that intensity.”

The former Warrnambool Seahawks and Mermaids coach praised the strong crowd.

“Hopefully they enjoyed it and we get some new Tigers fans,” he said.

After completing his Warrnambool coaching at the YMCA, Gleeson joked that he boasted a perfect record at the Arc.

Spectators saw the Tigers start with high intensity last night, pushing the ball down the floor at most opportunities, in particular after a Kings’ turnover.

It was guard Ayinde Ubaka who was damaging early, controlling play while also having an impact on the scoreboard with six first-quarter points.

Mills came into the game with just under four minutes remaining, hitting his first shot and the last of the term an open lay-up after weaving through traffic - to give Melbourne a 22-9 lead.

Sydney came out firing in the second term, with its quick ball movement helping the side to nine unanswered points, forcing Gleeson to call a time-out.

Kevin Ratzsch was the Kings’ go-to man late in the term, sinking two shots under pressure near the baseline to reduce the gap to three points with just under two-and-a-half minutes left.

After another time-out, Melbourne asserted itself again and with four points in the last 20 seconds, took a 10-point lead into the main break.

The Tigers outscored the Kings by six points in the third quarter, which included the former dropping back to a zone in the last four minutes which they were able to execute.

They stretched the lead out to 22 points with six minutes to go in the last term to kill off any hopes of a Sydney comeback. Kings coach Ian Robilliard believed his side was not as effective on the boards (47-35 in the Tigers’ favour) as they were in Wednesday night’s one-point win against Melbourne in Kilsyth).

“And we probably didn’t move the ball through hands as well as (Wednesday),” he said.

“That can be quickly corrected though.”

Kings guard Aaron Bruce, from Horsham, enjoyed the chance to play in Warrnambool last night.

He finished with a game-high five assists.

“I played here a lot as a junior,” he said.

He said Sydney still had a lot of work to do.

“We’re still putting a lot of things in place but we’re growing as a team,” he said last night.