Clinical South East Melbourne Phoenix loosened Adelaide 36ers’ grip on top spot on Saturday night with an impressive 97-77 win at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
Star skipper Nathan Sobey featured in the commanding performance with a team-high 19 points, with six South East Melbourne players finishing with double-digit scores.
Ladder-leaders Adelaide went into the clash two wins clear of the third-placed Phoenix, but Josh King’s men led by eight points at half-time and went on a 14-4 tear after the restart to quiet yet another sellout crowd.
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Phoenix led by as much as 20 points in the second half and held a 15-point break going into the final term.
With his team up by 17 points with three minutes remaining, Sobey sent a scare through the camp when he slipped and fell to the floor in pain. He went to the bench for assessment but was able to return as his side cruised to victory, with John Brown III and Jordan Hunter recording double-doubles in the emphatic display.
Zylan Cheatham also finished with a double-double, while Bryce Cotton had a game-high 26 points and Flynn Cameron also impressed, but there was little else to highlight in a disappointing display by Mike Wells’ side.
The result dropped Adelaide to a 21-8 record, while South East Melbourne improved to 20-9.
Two of the best three-point shooting teams in the league were a combined 0-9 from outside the arc with just seconds remaining in an even first quarter.
Malique Lewis broke the drought as time ran out, his triple from the corner tying it up 18-18 at the first break.
Cameron drained his side’s first three early in the second quarter, but five minutes in the home side was 1-7 from three-point land and South East Melbourne was 1-15 at just seven per cent.
With Cotton quiet after a busy start, Cameron kept his side in it with a game-high 16 points in the first half, with his four triples Adelaide’s only three-pointers in the opening half.
Scores were level midway through the second term, but an unsportsmanlike foul by DJ Vasiljevic on Sobey sparked a 12-2 run.
With combative big Nick Rakocevic out suspended, Adelaide got owned on the offensive boards in the first half with the visitors pulling down a stunning 21 offensive rebounds to the home side’s five.
Brown III led the charge with seven, with the Phoenix dominance on the offensive glass allowing them to throw up 50 shots from the floor in the first half.
“We know what the conversation is going to be from Mike Wells at halftime … if you can’t get hold of boxing people out and securing the ball and you give up 21 offensive boards it’s very hard to win,” NBL legend Andrew Gaze said.
Thankfully for Adelaide, the visitors only shot at 30 per cent, but still held an eight-point lead at the main break.
Sobey was emblematic of Phoenix’s wayward shooting with 1-from-11 shooting in the first half, although he did get to the free throw line often to lead his team with 11 points in the first half.
South East led the rebound count 37-20 in the first half, with Cheatham pulling down 10 of those to go with his eight first-half points.
In Illawarra, a blistering 21-point second half from Perth Wildcats import Kristian Doolittle has powered his side to a gutsy come-from-behind win over Illawarra Hawks.
After being 13 points down in the second term, Doolittle starred with a 15-point third quarter to lift his side to a six-point advantage heading into the final period. He then scored another six points in the final quarter to lead his side to the 106-99 win on Saturday night.
The Hawks, chasing a win to strengthen their top six chances narrowed the margin to four points with 90 seconds to play, but it was curtains when a clutch Dootlittle made a pull up two off the glass with 48 seconds to play.
His classy work lifted the Wildcats to a six-point lead and ultimately their 18th win of the season, which has the fifth-placed side now equal with fourth-placed Melbourne United with an 18-11 record.
Wildcats coach John Rillie said his side swung the momentum their way after a difficult opening.
“30 in the first quarter for them, that wasn’t us and then the way we approached it for the rest of the game, momentum swung in our favour and we just stuck with it,” Rillie said.
“Like the emotion, we just stayed composed and executed well in the fourth quarter.”
The win also improved the Wildcats’ strong away record to 11-4 this season.
Meanwhile the Hawks hurt their chances of a top six spot as the defending champions fall to a 18th loss of the campaign and remain in eight position.
Hawks coach Justin Tatum said he was disappointed following his side’s second straight loss.
“A little disappointed, felt like we should have given four quarters’ worth of effort instead of two,” Tatum said.
“I tip my hat off to Perth, they stuck with it no matter if they were down as much as 13.”
Wildcats star Doolittle gave no signs of an injury concern when he came out on fire in the third term.
After his side were down in the second quarter, Dootlittle nailed a mid-range two before a three on the next possession to level the scores at 56 a piece early in the third term.
The 28-year-old forward finished the quarter with a stellar 15 points to help push his side’s lead to six points after being down by six to start it.
There were injury concerns early in the second quarter when Doolittle grabbed at his left leg around the outside of his thigh and was subbed off. He returned and played through the pain, however, finishing with 26 points, five rebounds and five assists for the game.
“His a great two-way player, he probably doesn’t get the credit he deserves with his play,” Rillie said about Doolittle post-game.
Coming off a strong 23-point game in a big win against South East Melbourne Phoenix on Wednesday, Wildcats shooting guard Dylan Windler continued his fine form.
The 29-year-old made a dunk and smooth floater for back-to-back scores in the first quarter to get proceedings rolling.
He finished with 22 points (13 of those in the first half) as well as five rebounds and five assists.
Both sides had their wide array of scorers with a total of 10 players scoring double-digit points.
On top of Doolittle and Windler, Elijah Pepper (19), Ben Henshall (17) and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr (14) registered more than 10 points for the Wildcats.
Meanwhile, Quentin Peterson (22), JaVale McGee (18), Tyler Harvey (13), Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (12) and Sam Froling (12) got in the double figures for the Hawls.
Hawks big McGee stood up for the Hawks with 11 boards and three assists to go with his 18 points.
The three-time NBA champion also put up six points in the final term to help propel the Hawks but it wasn’t enough in the end.
Hawks guard Peterson was also influential with eight of his 22 points coming in the final quarter while Wildcats forward Henshall had nine rebounds and six assists to go with his 17 points.
— NCA NewsWire
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