NBL: Adelaide 36ers turn up the heat late on Perth Wildcats

An explosive bench cameo from Majok Deng steered Adelaide 36ers out of trouble against Perth Wildcats.

Adelaide’s Shannon Shorter, right, takes on Perth’s Damien Martin. Picture: Sarah Reed

An explosive bench cameo from Majok Deng steered the Adelaide 36ers out of trouble and towards a 97-86 win over the Perth Wildcats.

Having relinquished control of last night’s contest after a horror third term, the Sixers bounced back strongly in the final period through the efforts of substitute Deng, who rattled off 16 fourth-quarter points to turn a dicey situation into a rout.

Mitch Creek (21 points), Daniel Johnson (19 points, nine rebounds), Shannon Shorter (13 points, eight boards, seven assists) and Josh Childress (12 points, 13 rebounds) combined to pave the way for Deng’s late heroics.

Americans Bryce Cotton (26 points) and JP Tokoto (20) were superb for Perth but had little support.

As good as the Sixers were in the finish, they did take a while to get going. Some sloppy ball use from the hosts helped the Wildcats to a 23-20 quarter-time edge before the Sixers found the right gear in the second stanza.

Johnson and Creek scored eight points apiece as the hard-running Sixers turned a three-point quarter-time deficit into a 51-40 advantage at halftime.

But the third quarter was all Perth.

Ignited by Martin’s sterling defence and Tokoto’s athletic finishing, the Wildcats uncorked a 14-2 run to close the gap to two points before Cotton went on a tear and gave the visitors a 67-65 three-quarter-time lead.

But Adelaide had the last laugh, Deng dominating a stunning 32-19 fourth term.

Used sparingly in the opening three quarters, the tall Sudanese forward played the game of his life in the final quarter, uncorking a fine display of three-point shooting and dunking that the shell-shocked Wildcats had no answers for.

AAP