Cotton fires late to sink 36ers

Adelaide 36ers couldn’t stop the Bryce Cotton final quarter show as Perth Wildcats scored a 94-89 win at the Entertainment Centre on Saturday night.

In front of a record attendance of 9071 fans, Cotton scored 12 of his 15 points in the final quarter as the Wildcats snapped a five-game losing streak.

Adelaide, who 48 hours earlier defeated Illawarra Hawks 96-80 at WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, again started slowly on their home court, as the Wildcats built an early double-digit lead.

Turnovers again haunted Adelaide, with seven in the opening quarter as under fire Perth import Brady Manek caught fire, with nine points in the first 10 minutes.

The Wildcats, coming off five consecutive losses, started on fire from behind the arc, hitting five three-pointers in the opening stanza to take a 24-15 lead into quarter time.

Kai Sotto provided instant spark, finishing an alley-oop from Daniel Johnson as Adelaide reduced the Perth advantage as the 36ers defensive intensity improved.

An Antonius Cleveland three-point play cut the margin to 33-31 and then Craig Randall II came alive.

Coming off the bench after returning from a bruised sternum injury, Randall II worked his way into the contest, with some perfect passes to find Robert Franks and Sotto for baskets, and when he connected on a big three-pointer on the half time buzzer, the scores were tied 46-46.

Franks connected on a jump shot on the first possession after the main break and Adelaide had their first lead of the match at 48-46.

But the Wildcats responded with a 10-0 run to build their lead out to 58-50 as Manek’s night out continued.

Randall II sparked a 36ers run as Adelaide fought back late in the third quarter, an Anthony Drmic pull up jump shot giving the home side a 63-62 lead with 10 minutes to go.

Both sides traded baskets to start the final quarter, but Cotton then started to make his mark.

The three-time MVP was held to three points over the first three quarters but sank two triples to start the final quarter.

Two free throws from Cleveland gave Adelaide a 72-69 lead, but another Cotton triple gave the Wildcats back the lead with five minutes remaining.

When Cotton hit his fourth three-pointer of the quarter, the Wildcats lead extended to 81-74 and were never headed as Manek, who had a game-high 25 points, hit his sixth three-pointer of the night as the Wildcats lead grew to double digits.

Adelaide rallied, but a Randall II three-pointer which would have closed the margin to two points, caught iron and Perth survived.

Franks finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, Cleveland added 22 points and Randall II 13 points.

PERTH WILDCATS 94 (Manek 25, Webster 18, Cotton 15) def ADELAIDE 36ERS 89 (Franks 24, Cleveland 22, Randall II 13) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

BOX SCORE