Awesome foursome star in huge home win

An amazing first half from DJ Vasiljevic and Isaac Humphries has sparked Adelaide 36ers to a 93-83 victory against South East Melbourne Phoenix at the Entertainment Centre on Thursday night.

In front of a sell out crowd of 9377, Vasiljevic and Humphries combined for 29 points in the opening 20 minutes as Adelaide took a 17-point lead into the main break en route to the 10-point success.

Vasiljevic and Humphries both scored a team-high 22 points for the home side, with Kendric Davis adding 21 points with seven assists and Montrezl Harrell with another double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.

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Vasiljevic opened with a three-pointer, then found Humphries underneath for back-to-back baskets for an early 7-1 lead.

The Phoenix fought back straight away, scoring under the hoop to cut the Adelaide lead back to one point, but Vasiljevic kept on scoring and when Davis drove baseline, the 36ers advantage was back to 21-14.

Harrell had a massive impact in his first NBL start, especially at the defensive end with a huge block, then ended the opening stanza with a massive dunk as Adelaide took a 25-16 lead at quarter time.

Nick Marshall, then Davis connected from downtown and Humphries continued to have a presence inside as the 36ers extended their lead to 33-20.

Davis then found Humphries for a huge slam dunk before stealing the ball and finding Harrell underneath as the Adelaide increased to 15 points.

A three-point play from Vasiljevic had the lead out to 20 points, but the Phoenix fought back again late in the second quarter as Adelaide took a 52-35 lead into the main interval.

After scoring 15 points in the opening half, Vasiljevic opened the third quarter with his third three-pointer of the night and Davis continued to weave through the defence.

Matt Hurt (32 points) sparked the Phoenix after the Adelaide lead extended out to 20 points for the second time, scoring back-back baskets to cut the margin to 62-47.

Davis got to the free throw line late in the third quarter as the 36ers took a 71-58 lead into the final 10 minutes.

South East Melbourne opened the final quarter with the first four points to reduce the Adelaide lead to single digits for the first time since the second quarter.

Davis continued to tick the scoreboard over from the free throw line, then Humphries scored underneath before adding another two from a tough offensive rebound, then Dech swished a three-pointer for an 82-68 lead.

The Phoenix had one final run, cutting the margin to 88-81 before Davis then Harrell iced the game to send the home fans into raptures.

Adelaide will be back in action on Saturday when the 36ers travel to Wollongong to face Illawarra Hawks from 5pm ACST.

ADELAIDE 36ERS 93 (Humphries 22, Vasiljevic 22, Davis 21) def SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 83 (Hurt 32, Lewis 14, Walton Jnr 10) at the  Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 9377
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