To The South: Two 30-Point Performances, One Sudden Death Shocker

With Canadian basketball still scarce for the time being, other content will be making appearances on TTN in the interim.

The second round of fixtures got underway in Australia's 2021 NBL season, with it many more amazing performances from both individuals and teams and an exciting clash between a team looking to get the season off to a winning start and one looking to get back to winning ways.

Adeliade 36ers vs South East Melbourne Phoenix

The start to this game was uncertain, giving no clues as to how events were going to unfurl. Phoenix had the initial lead but Adelaide kept knocking at their door, and kept doing so until the end of the third quarter when SEM went ten points clear of them.

The 36ers turned to their captain, Daniel Johnson, who went on to score 19 points and grab 10 rebounds in the game, as well as Isaac Humphries who led the team on offence with 20 points. On their opposition, though, Keifer Sykes was running rampant, leading the Phoenix’s three-point shooting – they made half of all attempts from beyond the arc - they brushed off any challenges to their dominance and ended Adelaide's hot streak with an 89-83 defeat of the 36ers.

Ben Moore achieved a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds while Kyle Adnam posted 17 off the bench for South East Melbourne in the win.

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Brisbane Bullets vs The Hawks

Brisbane finished the first quarter ten points ahead of the Hawks, only for the Hawks to end the following period ahead by the same margin. In the second half, the Hawks managed to edge ahead, with Andrew Ogilvy and Justinian Jessup finding plenty of short-range scoring chances which made the difference in the game.

Nathan Sobey was doing it all for Brisbane’s offence, finishing as the team leader with 24 points, while his team mate Victor Law contributed much on both ends of the floor, contributing 16 points and 12 total rebounds for the Bullets.

The game was highly competitive until the fourth quarter, when the Hawks started to run away with it. Led by a 31-point performance from Tyler Harvey - 17 of which came in the second quarter alone, they remain unbeaten in the still-young NBL season, shooting down the Bullets 90 points to 82.

Adelaide 36ers vs New Zealand Breakers

The Breakers make their season debut in Adelaide but found themselves at the mercy of a 36ers unit who struck early and often. The home team took an early double-digit lead but the Breakers' three-point shooters started to close the gap in the second quarter and began the third by going in front. Tai Webster and Lamar Patterson joined forces to put the visitors up ten points four minutes into the second half.

The 36ers began the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run to go ahead by one point, which the Breakers did not take that lying down. Three lead changes followed, at the end of which the scores were tied at 79 points with a minute on the clock. Webster put the Kiwis up with a three, only for Donald Sloan to do the same for Adelaide and after one final attempt from Webster fell short, the game went to overtime.

Webster was once again doing it all for the Breakers in the extra period, but his team could not shake off their hosts. In the final seconds with Adelaide up four, Patterson hit a three to close the gap, but two free-throws from Tony Crocker off a foul from Webster was all the 36ers needed to see out the victory.

Tai Webster doubled the next best score of anyone on his team with a game-high 34 points, but even that could not get the win for the New Zealand Breakers. Sloan on the 36ers had 20 points in the contest while Issac Humphries had an impressive 24-point, 11-rebound showing in the 94-91 overtime victory which saw Adelaide get back to winning ways in the NBL.

Picture: Mark Brake