36ers survive as Cotton fouls out in overtime

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Adelaide survived. There is no other way to describe it.

It was a tough, physical battle full of no calls on top of a combined 61 fouls between the league's top two ball clubs.

Box Score: Adelaide 36ers 114, Melbourne United 105 (OT)

Isaac Humphries, playing his 100th game for the 36ers, fouled out, Nick Rakocevic was ejected on a disqualifying foul, Bryce Cotton fouled out for the first time in his NBL career, Shea Ili fouled out on a blocking foul and a technical foul, Zylan Cheatham fouled out with 11 seconds left in OT.

United were without Tyson Walker but were gritty all game long, even taking the lead after a 21-5 run to start the fourth quarter ... a complete reversal of what Adelaide did to Perth last Sunday! Adelaide led 81-65 at three quarter time but simply couldn't make a bucket or stop United from scoring.

Cotton stunningly fouled out in the overtime on a charge with 3:10 left in the overtime. He'd scored all seven points for the 36ers in the overtime to then.

With the score locked at 95-95, Cotton, extraordinarily turned the ball over on an iso against Shea Ili to win it as the clock wound down.

Cotton lost the handle on a spin at the free throw line. United's Milton Doyle missed a long fall away at the buzzer to win it.

Even more extraordinary was Ili, coming back from injury, didn't start the overtime because he is on a minutes restriction.

Nick Rakocevic was ejected with seven minutes to go for an elbow on United Finn Delany, which put Adelaide in deeper jeopardy with Zylan Cheatham on four fouls and Isaac Humphries also on four. It was a turning point for the 36ers.

NBL Next Star Dash Daniels, who started the ball game, fouled out shortly after on his fifth foul, sending Cotton to the free throw line.

Humphries fouled out with 2:25 on a bang-bang charge driving to the bucket but head coach Mike Wells didn't have a challenge after blowing it earlier on a foul by Cheatham. It would have more than likely overturned as Delany shifted on the play.

Delany came up with a massive and-1 with 25.5 seconds left, a reaching foul called on Cotton, his fourth.

Cotton was the difference, delivering a superb all-around performance with 33 points, 13 assists and 7 rebounds in 39 minutes. Humphries was highly efficient inside (17 points on 8-of-10 shooting), while Zylan Cheatham added 13 points and 9 rebounds and Flynn Cameron chipped in 18 points.

Melbourne led for just 1:47 all night but fought their way back into the contest through balance and perimeter shooting. Captain Chris Goulding scored 24 points with three threes, Finn Delany posted 20 points and 9 rebounds, and Shea Ili contributed 13 points and 3 assists off the bench.

After Melbourne won the fourth quarter 28–14 to force overtime, Adelaide controlled the extra frame with physicality, free throws (30-of-35 for the game), and Cotton’s late execution, finishing with a deserved home victory after leading for more than 40 minutes.

The 36ers are now 14-3 at clear top while Melbourne dropped to 13-4 but still a clear second.

Scoring by Quarter
36ers: 27 | 32 | 22 | 14 | 19
United: 22 | 26 | 19 | 28 | 10

Top Performers

Adelaide 36ers

• Bryce Cotton – 33 pts │ 13 ast │ 7 reb │ 11–12 FT
• Isaac Humphries – 17 pts │ 6 reb │ 8–10 FG
• Zylan Cheatham – 13 pts │ 9 reb │ 3 ast
• Flynn Cameron – 18 pts │ 8 reb

Melbourne United

• Chris Goulding – 24 pts │ 3 ast │ 3 threes
• Finn Delany – 20 pts │ 9 reb
• Milton Doyle – 17 pts │ 3 ast
• Shea Ili – 13 pts │ 3 ast │ 2 stl

Team Stats

• FG%: Adelaide 47.4% │ Melbourne 42.0%
• 3PT: Adelaide 10–28 (35.7%) │ Melbourne 9–30 (30.0%)
• FT: Adelaide 30–35 (85.7%) │ Melbourne 22–28 (78.6%)
• Rebounds: Adelaide 51 │ Melbourne 46
• Assists: Adelaide 20 │ Melbourne 17
• Turnovers: Adelaide 12 │ Melbourne 12

Game Notes

• Adelaide led for 40:35 of game time
• 11 lead changes
• Melbourne forced overtime with a 28–14 fourth quarter, but Adelaide won OT 19–10
• Biggest lead: Adelaide 18 points