Kai Sotto and Adelaide put up a late run but it was not enough to topple South East Melbourne, falling 76-83 in the 2021-22 National Basketball League season, Friday at Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
Down by as much as 13 points in the game and 61-67 with 7:35 remaining, the 7-foot-3 Filipino did wonders anchoring the 36ers’ defense.
On the other end, the duo of Dusty Hannahs and Daniel Johnson carried the load, blasting an 11-4 spurt to gain a 72-71 lead with 3:02 left.
With the game knotted at 76-all after a Johnson layup, Phoenix captain Kyle Adnam silenced Adelaide with a huge triple.
Sunday Dech and Hannahs missed crucial buckets that led to Mitch Creek find to Brandon Ashley for the dagger with 14 ticks remaining.
Creek ended up with 29 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals to lift SE Melbourne to an 11-5 record to maintain solo second in the standings.
Ryan Broekhoff and Izayah Le’afa chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively for the Phoenix. China’s Zhou Qi, meanwhile, tallied eight rebounds and seven points.
Johnson tallied 31 points, eight rebounds, and four assists for Adelaide, who suffered their third straight loss to fall to 5-10 in the standings – still at solo eighth.
Mitch Mccarron and Hannahs both had nine points each with the former also dishing out nine assists. Sotto ended up with nine rebounds, four points, and three blocks to bounce back from his outing against Sydney last February 27.
Up next for Sotto and Adelaide is Perth on Sunday, March 6.
