Big Sixers Finish Sees Them Overrun Bullets

The Adelaide 36ers had to dig deep but went on a 20-7 scoring run through the fourth quarter to go from six points down against the Brisbane Bullets to seven up before holding on for the 87-84 win in front of a record Adelaide Entertainment Centre crowd.

A crowd of 9263 filled the Entertainment Centre in what is the biggest ever home attendance for the 36ers. They saw quite the entertaining and seesawing contest, and ultimately most of them went home happy with a fourth consecutive Adelaide win.

The Sixers certainly had to earn it, though, with the Bullets looking to make it consecutive wins on the back of getting the first win under Greg Vanderjagt in overtime at home to the Perth Wildcats on Tuesday.

By the start of the fourth quarter after an Aron Baynes bucket, Brisbane led by six and threw the gauntlet right down to the 36ers.

The Sixers responded with the next 11 points and then another 6-0 run that ultimately sealed the deal in what turned out quite the dramatic final minute.

Brisbane superstar Nathan Sobey had three fouls in a matter of seconds with an offensive foul when he tangled with Antonius Cleveland, a tech and then he was called for a block on Cleveland with tensions threatening to spill over between the pair.

The Bullets almost at least sent it to overtime with a late Andrew White III three before two Tanner Krebs free-throws after stealing an inbounds pass. Tyler Johnson couldn’t quite hit the game-winner, though, with Adelaide holding on to win by three.

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Not a whole lot separated the two teams aside from Adelaide attempting 33 free-throws to Brisbane's 18 on the back of the Bullets conceding 40 foul shots to Perth on Tuesday.

Robert Franks top-scored for Adelaide with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists with Cleveland ending up with 13 points, nine boards, five assists and four steals, and Anthony Drmic 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The 36ers had plenty of contributors in the absence of captain Mitch McCarron. New signing Ian Clark had his moments with two threes for nine points in 19:30 while Daniel Johnson had nine points, and Sunday Dech eight points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Sixers coach CJ Bruton excited for the platform his team now has to build off with this four-game winning streak.

"I'm excited for our club, I'm excited for our players and I'm excited for our fans," Bruton said.

"To be at home everyone wants to be successful and our journey is our journey so far, but I feel like where we're at right now to be able to win these four games gives a calmness knowing that when you're trying to fight for a playoff spot you need to be able to win at home as you need to be able to win at home."

Before his frustrating end to the game, Sobey did all he could for the Bullets backing up 61 points in his last two games with another 24.

Tyler Johnson ended up with 12 points as well for the Bullets while White contributed 12 points, Krebs 13 points and seven rebounds,, and Baynes 10 points and 12 boards.

Brisbane coach Greg Vanderjagt was proud of his team's fight but is a little bewildered how his team conceded 73 free-throws to their opposition the last two games.

"I'm really proud of the group in the second game in three nights and being on the road," Vanderjagt said.

"We got stomped on here last time as well but I'm disappointed obviously in the outcome because I thought we gave ourselves opportunities to win. 

"The players put themselves in positions of strength and we defended really, really well in the second half holding that team to 33 in the second half after giving up 54 in the first half. 

"But again like when we won a game in Brisbane the other night, Perth shot 40 free-throws and we lose a game tonight where we shoot 18 and Adelaide shoot 33. 

"We need to go back and work on our foul discipline and how we're defending, but the frustrating thing for me is that Sobes and Baynes live in the paint, and between them they shoot six free-throws."

Kai Sotto gave Adelaide the first basket of the game and the home team was soon up 6-2 but Brisbane was able to steady and grabbed the advantage courtesy of a pair of triples from Nathan Sobey.

Andrew White III provided a good spark too for Brisbane with seven opening quarter points but Adelaide managed to grab the lead just before quarter-time with Ian Clark's first bucket in Sixers colours.

He was made to earn it taking a hit to the face when drawing a foul, but his three-point play helped the 36ers lead 29-27 after one.

An Anthony Drmic triple early in the second kept Adelaide on top but then it was Brisbane who threatened to open up a sizeable gap with a 10-0 run. Sobey scored six of those points against his former team with Aron Baynes putting the exclamation mark on it with a big dunk.

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Adelaide answered with Clark's first three-pointer for his new team, he added a second before half-time too and with Kyrin Galloway also landing one from deep, the 36ers went into half-time clinging to the 54-51 lead in an entertaining affair.

While both teams combined for 105 points in the first half, things really dried up in the third quarter. Adelaide just managed the eight points with Brisbane coming out on and scoring the first nine including threes from Jason Cadee and Tanner Krebs.

The Bullets turned that into a 66-62 lead by three quarter-time and the lead was eight when Baynes scored to open the fourth before the 36ers took right over.

Not only did they score the next 11 points to go from eight down to five up topped by a three by Drmic, their defensive pressure went up significantly led by Antonius Cleveland and including a couple of huge blocks from Galloway.

A three from Johnson extended Adelaide's lead to six and then after Brisbane got back within one, the Sixers scored the next six points including an offensive foul drawn by Cleveland on Sobey that saw tempers flare.

Sobey earned a tech foul and then a blocking foul on Cleveland on the next possession to end his night, but the game wasn’t done yet. Despite Adelaide leading by six, White nailed a three with six seconds to go after an offensive rebound.

Krebs then secured the steal on Cleveland's inbounds pass and made both at the line to make it a one-point game. Franks made two free-throws to put Adelaide back up three but Brisbane still had 5.2 seconds out of the timeout.

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The Bullets executed well with Cadee's pass finding Johnson who got open on a screen, but he took an off-balance three that didn’t fall and Adelaide held on for the fourth consecutive win.

The 36ers have one more game to go in 2022 now when they take on the Cairns Taipans in Far North Queensland on New Year's Eve. The Bullets' first game of 2023 will be on New Year's Day when they host Melbourne United.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 13

ADELAIDE 36ERS 87 (Franks 18, Cleveland 13, Drmic 11)

BRISBANE BULLETS 84 (Sobey 24, Krebs 13, White III 12, Johnson 12) 

BOX SCORE