Cotton, Cheatham lift for Gleeson-less 36ers

He might not have had Trevor Gleeson on the sidelines with him, but Bryce Cotton put in another match-winning performance, scoring eight of his 35 points in the last two minutes to lead the Adelaide 36ers to a 94-88 win over the Tasmania JackJumpers.

The 36ers were without head coach Gleeson for family reasons at MyState Bank Arena on Friday night with the JackJumpers sitting in top spot and having won three straight, and with Tasmanian basketball on a high after the Jewels' WNBL win 24 hours earlier.

Marko Marinovic stepped into the coaching seat for the Sixers but it wasn’t a great start with the JackJumpers opening up a 10-point first half lead including a halfcourt prayer on quarter-time from captain Will Magnay.

But with Cotton showing the way with 16 points to the half, Adelaide were leading 40-39 by the break before opening up a 13-point advantage in the third quarter.

However, the JackJumpers got scores back level late and the Sixers had lost Nick Rakocevic who had fouled out, but the 36ers had Cotton. He hit two huge threes and made another bucket in the final two minutes to secure the six-point win.

Adelaide have now won two straight over Sydney and Tasmania to steady their season at 4-4 with Cotton ending up with 35 points, six rebounds and five assists on 13/26 shooting from the field and 5/16 from long-range.

Zylan Cheatham added 15 points and 11 rebounds, John Jenkins III 13 points, and Rakocevic 13 points and eight rebounds before fouling out and despite going 5/13 at the foul line.

The JackJumpers are now 4-2 with the loss with Taran Armstrong providing another 20 points and 10 assists.

Magnay also had 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks with Dakota Mathias contributing 14 points and five boards, Josh Bannan 13 points and seven rebounds, and Ben Gold 12 points and seven boards.

The JackJumpers were back home sitting in top spot and having won three straight, and made a good start with 22 points to 14 in the first quarter including a half-court buzzer-beater from Will Magnay that went in off the glass.

Tasmania got out to a 10-point lead in the second quarter as well, but Adelaide worked back into the contest, with Bryce Cotton showing the way with 10 points in the term to go into half-time with 16.

Zylan Cheatham also had seven points and seven rebounds while the Sixers put up 26 points to 17 in the quarter to go into half-time with the narrow 40-39 advantage.

Cotton then kept on rolling with another 11 points in the third period and the Adelaide lead got out to as much as 11 and it could have been more with Nick Rakocevic up to 10 points and seven rebounds, but shooting 4/11 from the foul line.

The 36ers were leading 71-62 by three quarter-time despite the 16 points and seven assists for the home team from Taran Armstrong, and 12 points and seven rebounds from Ben Gold.

Nick Marshall scored his first points of the game to start the fourth quarter to bring Tasmania back within six before a three-point play from Magnay had them back within two, and Rakocevic soon picked up his fifth foul in a cruel blow for the 36ers.

Magnay made another strong and-one before Marshall made a second triple of the last term to tie scores up, but the 36ers still had Cotton and he scored the next five points to put his team up by that with 1:21 to go.

Cotton then landed the killer blow in the final minute with another three ball to give the Sixers back-to-back wins with the six-point triumph.

The JackJumpers remain at home to host the New Zealand Breakers on Sunday and the Brisbane Bullets on Wednesday with the Sixers not playing again until next Saturday on the road to the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 88 – ADELAIDE 36ERS 94

Tasmania JackJumpers
Taran Armstrong – 20 points, 10 assists, 3 rebounds
Will Magnay – 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks
Dakota Mathias – 14 points, 5 rebounds
Josh Bannan – 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
Ben Gold – 12 points, 7 rebounds

Adelaide 36ers
Bryce Cotton – 35 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists
Zylan Cheatham – 15 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
John Jenkins III – 13 points
Nick Rakocevic – 13 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
Keanu Rasmussen – 8 points, 4 assists, 2 steals