Sixers lift in second half to beat Tassie

It was a familiar tale for the Tasmania JackJumpers who couldn’t maintain the rage with the Adelaide 36ers shaking off a cold first half to take charge in the second and then hold on for the 77-73 home victory.

It was another sold out crowd at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre with 9384 people in the building as the 36ers unveiled their giant trio up front for the first time with Jarell Martin healthy to join Montrezl Harrell and Isaac Humphries.

Tasmania arrived after a strong first half but then struggling after half-time on Friday to lose to Sydney, but with Milton Doyle and Jordon Crawford combining for 19 points in the opening half, the visitors led by as much as 11.

Adelaide had gone just 1/12 from deep in the first half, but that all started to change in the third quarter with the 36ers piling on 23 points to 11.

They opened up their own 11-point lead in the fourth but the JackJumpers kept things interesting late before Adelaide held firm to win by four and improve to 4-3 in what was the 400th NBL game of Jason Cadee.

Point guard Kendric Davis was superb again for the Sixers with 23 points, six assists and four steals with the JackJumpers having no answers for Harrell down low who ended up with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

"There wasn't any sense of panic in the locker room at half-time," 36ers coach Mike Wells said.

"Our energy in the first two and a half minutes of the third quarter started on the defensive end.

"It led to the offence ... we got a bunch of easy baskets and were able to change the momentum of the game and get the upper hand."

The JackJumpers are now 2-5 after three consecutive losses for the first time since the opening three games of NBL23 with Doyle finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists on 5/10 three-point shooting.

Crawford added 13 points and six assists with Will Magnay contributing 11 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks, and Reuben Te Rangi nine points.

"They got us a little disjointed in the middle of the third," said JackJumpers coach Scott Roth.

"They got us out of our spots and we got a little anxious and impatient in some areas.

"That was enough to sway the momentum back to them."

Coming off their record loss eight days ago in Wollongong and then losing in Launceston to Sydney on Friday, the JackJumpers were always going to come out hard, and after a couple of tough games it was Milton Doyle showing the way.

He hit two early three balls to help Tasmania to a 15-4 lead on the back of scoring 10 consecutive points to be leading 22-13 by the end of one.

The JackJumpers' edge got out to 11 just before half-time with another pair of free-throws to Doyle who had eight points going into the break, but a three on the buzzer for Adelaide to Kendric Davis cut Tasmania's advantage the 39-31.

That was the Sixers' lone three-point make in the half and the home team then opened the second half on fire with the first seven points to close the margin to one and force Scott Roth into a quick timeout.

Adelaide then kept going with 23 points to 11 in the end for the third quarter to grab the 54-50 advantage by three quarter-time.

The Sixers kept that momentum going to start the fourth quarter with the opening seven points topped off with a triple from Davis as their lead grew to 11 points, and they went on to score the four-point victory.

Adelaide remains at home to host the Cairns Taipans on Friday night while the JackJumpers remain on the road to face the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

ADELAIDE 36ERS 77 (Davis 23, Harrell 22, Vasiljevic 11)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 73 (Doyle 22, Crawford 13, Magnay 11)

BOX SCORE