Adelaide 36ers’ stand up and weather another fierce Croc attack to escape with a 76-66 NBL win

ADELAIDE weathered Townsville’s best shot last night and was willed on to a 76-66 victory by its rabid home NBL fans.

12/12/15 - Adelaide 36ers v Townsville Crocs at Adelaide Arena. Crocs' Clint Steindl defends 36ersÕ Anthony Petrie. Photo Tom Huntley

THERE’s no question the Adelaide Arena home crowd is a huge asset to the 36ers.

Beaten on Thursday in Townsville in one of the NBL’s most inspiring comebacks, on Saturday night the Sixers had the voice and energy of 5638 ardent fans willing them to avoid any repeat.

From 15 down with four minutes to play on Thursday, the Crocs recovered to beat Adelaide, but the rematch was far more tense, the 36ers barely ahead 65-62 with 4:55 left.

Coach Joey Wright looked to his bench and rookies Nathan Sobey and Matt Hodgson, returning from minor knee surgery and required to play more minutes than expected with Lucas Walker battling a bout of food poisoning, responded heroically.

Hodgson had nine points and six boards, Sobey eight and four rebounds, their back-up work critical, as were the contributions of Jerome Randle, Anthony Petrie and Mitch Creek.

Scrambling and hustling defensively and with the crowd exhorting no less, the 36ers pulled away from the free throw line for a 70-62 lead.

Twin plays with Crocs playmaker Mitch Norton feeding Nick Kay sliced it to 66-70 with 90 seconds left.

Playing defence as though their season depended on it, the 36ers forced Townsville away from the shots it wanted while Randle, with game highs in points and assists (19 and seven) found Daniel Johnson with a perfect pass, the Sixers seconds from a 76-66 redemption.

Sixers star Jerome Randle takes on the Townsville defence at Adelaide Arena. Picture: Tom Huntley

Townsville had wrested control midway through the first quarter, not coincidentally when Petrie limped off, having aggravated his right achilles.

He already had stormed down the lane in traffic and thrown down a two-handed slam, and was the lynchpin of a committed defence.

Adelaide was out 11-6 shortly before Petrie headed for the changerooms, the impact immediate.

From an 8-13 deficit, the Crocs’ teamwork and ball movement kicked in, Jordair Jett, Corey Maynard, Omar Samhan, Clint Steindl and Mirko Djeric all scoring in a 13-1 run to the first break for a 21-14 lead.

Maynard opened the second period as he closed the first, scoring near the hoop and when Steindl put back a rebound, Townsville was 25-14 ahead and on a 13-0 sequence.

Adelaide had no assists in the first quarter and shot at 35 per cent but that began to swing with Sobey’s introduction and Petrie’s presence.

Sobey stuck a pair of threes in the period and from 17-27 down, Adelaide ignited.

Randle exposed the Crocs with his skills and footspeed, scoring 10 points and instrumental in an 11-0 burst which swept the 36ers to the lead.

Their home crowd wouldn’t let them surrender it.

“We can’t keep fouling the way we did and expect to win,” Townsville coach Shawn Dennis said, the 36ers shooting 23-of-30 free throws to the Crocs’ 6-of-8.

“We’ve got to learn to keep our hands out of there.

“I’m proud of the boys because we knew Adelaide would throw everthing at us, but we can’t foul like that.”

ADELAIDE 36ERS 76 (Randle 19, Johnson 10, Hodgson, Creek 9) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES 66 (Jett 15, Samhan 11, Maynard 10) at Adelaide Arena.

Originally published as Adelaide 36ers’ stand up and weather another fierce Croc attack to escape with a 76-66 NBL win