36ers still processing "rollercoaster" defeat

Leading by six points with 2.20 to play in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Game 5 at Qudos Bank Arena, the Adelaide 36ers had one hand on the Hungry Jack’s NBL26 championship trophy.

But Sydney didn’t back down, scoring nine of the next 12 points to tie the game with five seconds to play, following a Tim Soares tip-in.

Despite 36ers star Bryce Cotton getting a solid look at the death, the ball rimmed out and the decider went to overtime.

The extra period then, unfortunately for the Sixers, belonged to the hosts, outscoring Mike Wells’ side 18-6, to secure the franchise its sixth NBL title and third in five seasons.

Upon reflecting on the dying moments, 36ers big man Isaac Humphries compared it to both a “rollercoaster” and the “twilight zone”.

“It [the final few minutes] was just like a roller coaster because at one point we're thinking, we've got this and fair enough too, after a few solidifying plays,” Humphries said to NOVA FM’s Jodie and Hayses.

“Then a few things back-to-back-to-back happened, and all of a sudden it was not ours anymore, and it was overtime.

“In overtime, the whole thing just got away from us, and I remember thinking this is like a Twilight Zone. What has just happened in the last five minutes? There's so much going on.

“We’ve got 18,500 people screaming at us. The whole championship is on the line, which is something we worked all year for.

“There are so many layers going on, including them having their run, which just so happened to be in OT. You’re like c’mon, you can’t make this up.”

That late surge, powered by the likes of Kendric Davis, Jaylin Galloway and Makuach Maluach, secured the Harbour City side its sixth NBL crown, while keeping the 36ers trophyless since 2002.

While the dust is still settling, Humphries, who is still processing the heartbreaking defeat, said he’s proud of how far the team has come during the 2025-26 campaign.

“It's going to take a bit of time [to process the loss], it's very raw, and the sting is still there for sure,” he said.

“But once we all reflect and take our time to process all of it, [I’m sure] we will also feel [proud] about it.

“There are so many good things that happened, and we held our own. We went through peaks and valleys, and we were killing it.

“As a player, it [Game 5 of a Championship Series] is the stuff you want to be a part of; it was an unbelievable feeling.

“I just wish you got that last little bit of unbelievable feeling, which is something we’ll all be chasing again now.

“At some point, we'll all look back and think how amazing we did, but I don't think it's just yet. “It's just a little too raw still. Even though we know it, it's just, it was just right there. And that was a bit, it's a bit too hard to.”

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Humphries also believes that with the majority of this team’s core returning in NBL27, the 36ers will be right in the mix to achieve something special.

“We have tried to keep our core group of players together [going into next season],” he said.

“We identified that we all really get along, and have developed a culture within the playing group that was unbreakable.

“[After the loss] we all just sort of looked at each other arm in arm and said we all still love each other and our confidence in one another never wavered.

"That was something we were really proud of, so [we’re excited to] keep this group together.”