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'Scares the death out of you': Roth on Cotton's clutch 8-0
Adelaide 36ers’ Bryce Cotton shoots during their Round 5 NBL27 clash against the Tasmania JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena in Hobart on October 16, 2026. Photo: Steve Bell/Getty Images.
Highlights
Tied at 82 with 2:13 left, Cotton hit two threes and a lay-up as Adelaide won without their coach.
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JackJumpers head coach Scott Roth declared Bryce Cotton ($473,900) “one of the best players in the world that's not in the NBA” after the six-time MVP took over in the clutch to lead the 36ers to a tough 94-88 win in Tasmania on Friday, October 16, 2026, in Round 5.
Cotton, 33, led all scorers with 35 points, six rebounds, and five assists on 13-for-26, including 5-for-16 from three and 4-for-4 at the line.
“When he walks in the building, he's done it year in and year out,” Roth added.
“I was lucky enough to be around him in Perth. He's just a wonderful, wonderful player to watch, and he had a hell of a night, obviously.
“You don't want to go down to the last two minutes, particularly in a tight game with him running around.
“He scares the death out of you just in general. He made the shots he needed to make, obviously.
“Like I said, he's a hell of a player. He's a hell of a kid. I love watching him play.
“His demeanour is the thing I'm most impressed with because it's just night in and night out, people are just after him.
“He's been doing it for seven or eight years, and he just keeps showing up. Hugely impactful wherever he goes and, yeah, I love him to death.”
The game was tied at 82 with 2:13 to go on JackJumper Nick Marshall ($203,400)’s corner three, but then Cotton went on an 8-0 run – a contested three, a lay-up and another three – to push it to 90-82 with 49 seconds left.
“Here we go,” Cotton said, referring to the last two minutes.
“Score. It's fun. Those are the moments that you enjoy being in, and it builds character.
“We gutted that game out, and I think we did a hell of a job offensively and defensively those last two minutes, especially with the rebounds and the stops that we got.”
36ers Serbian assistant coach Marko Marinović took the reins for the first time in an NBL regular season game because head coach Trevor Gleeson was at his son’s high school graduation.
“I think Marko did a fantastic job,” Cotton said.
“This is his second time coaching us. We had the one in the Blitz, and we got that win for him.
“Now we had a big test on the road, and Marko did a hell of a job. He believed in us, and we believed in him, and we were able to come out with a win.
“So he's 1-0 as a head coach.”
Marinović said: “First of all, I want to thank Trev and the organisation for believing in me.
“Then I want to thank the players. This is my third season here, and last season we had games like this, right? So this is nothing new for us.
“This is how we're going to build our championship habits. We need these types of games, especially for the bench guys who have never been in these situations before.
“It's really good for them to win the game, and also for us to stay in a playoff position.
“We don't want to be one of the bottom teams.”
Roth said he communicated with Gleeson on the morning of the game, and only then found out he wasn’t in Hobart.
“Trevor and I text back and forth, and I didn't realise that he was in Perth,” Roth said.
“He told me he was in Perth, and I actually congratulated him.
“For me particularly, where I'm in my life, he promised his son about five years ago that he would be at his graduation when he graduated.
“The chance to go back on this night, to go back to Perth and spend that time with his son, which I told him he's never going to forget that.
“Great kudos to him for a family-first mentality. He's super, super competitive. I know he hated not being here, but they held the fort for him.
“Congratulations to him for actually making that kind of choice, which is not always easy in our profession.”
What you need to know
- The Adelaide 36ers beat the Tasmania JackJumpers 94-88 at MyState Bank Arena in Round 5 of NBL27.
- Tasmania won the first quarter 22-14, Adelaide took the second 26-17 to lead 40-39 at half-time and the third 31-23 to lead 71-62, and Tasmania won the fourth 26-23.
- Bryce Cotton ($473,900) scored 35 points on 13-from-26, including 5-from-16 from three, and Taran Armstrong ($304,700) led Tasmania with 20 points and 10 assists on 8-from-16.
- Adelaide made 20 of 29 free throws and Tasmania 8 of 12, a 12-point gap at the line in a six-point game.
- Tasmania made two more field goals, 35 to 33, and two more threes, 10 to 8, but turned the ball over 13 times to Adelaide's five.
Adelaide 36ers
- Bryce Cotton ($473,900) top-scored with 35 points, six rebounds and five assists on 13-from-26, including 5-from-16 from three and 4-from-4 at the line.
- Zylan Cheatham ($339,500) added 15 points and 11 rebounds on 7-from-10 and played all 40 minutes.
- Nick Rakocevic ($188,400) had 13 points and eight rebounds on 4-from-10, including 5-from-13 at the line, before fouling out.
- John Jenkins III ($152,100) scored 13 points off the bench on 4-from-11, including 4-from-4 at the line.
- Keanu Rasmussen ($69,000) had eight points, four assists and two steals on 3-from-6.
- Jacob Rigoni ($69,000) scored six points on 2-from-3, both makes from three.
- Matt Kenyon ($69,000) had four points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench, all four points from 4-from-4 at the line.
- Adelaide shot 33-from-68 from the field, 8-from-26 from three and 20-from-29 at the line, with 35 rebounds, 18 assists and five turnovers.
Tasmania JackJumpers
- Taran Armstrong ($304,700) top-scored with 20 points and 10 assists on 8-from-16, including 3-from-4 at the line.
- Will Magnay ($269,300) added 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks on 7-from-9, including 2-from-3 from three.
- Dakota Mathias ($145,200) scored 14 points and five rebounds on 6-from-12, including 2-from-7 from three.
- Josh Bannan ($317,500) had 13 points and seven rebounds on 6-from-13, with four turnovers.
- Ben Gold ($69,000) scored 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench on 4-from-10, including 2-from-7 from three.
- Nick Marshall ($203,400) had six points on 2-from-2, both from three, in 30 minutes.
- David Johnson ($232,900) scored four points off the bench on 2-from-7, missing all four of his three-point attempts.
- Tasmania shot 35-from-70 from the field, 10-from-31 from three and 8-from-12 at the line, with 38 rebounds, 21 assists and 13 turnovers.
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