Dillon stands tall on tough 36ers night

It wasn’t quite the start to the final weekend at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre the Adelaide 36ers were hoping for on Friday night in a loss to the Illawarra Hawks, but Daniel Dillon stood tall as they prepare for a big farewell on Sunday.

The Sixers might have returned home for Friday night's game knowing playoffs were out of reach and also that the seasons were over for star duo Josh Giddey and Isaac Humphries, but nothing quite prepared anyone for the patches that took place in the first half.

That was even more so the case when the game actually started well. Triples for Daniel Johnson and Keanu Pinder, and a big dunk from Pinder saw the Sixers race to a 14-6 lead in front of the healthy 6080 crowd at the Entertainment Centre.

However, from that point it was all the Hawks who were still playing for their lives in terms of a top four position. Brian Goorjian laid down the law in the timeout and his Illawarra team came out to score the game's next 18 points.

They then finished the first half with another 10-0 run and would lead by as much as 26 points as one point in the third quarter.

Jusa as it appeared things couldn’t get worse for Adelaide, the ship steadied and it was all thanks to Daniel Dillon who relished the opportunity to start and run the club in the absence of Giddey.

He helped Adelaide back into the game and to even have a sniff at what would have been the most remarkable of comebacks with the margin just eight with under three minutes left.

It wasn’t to be, though, and Illawarra went on to win 81-73 to strengthen their playoff hopes while the 36ers prepare for one more home game on Sunday against the Perth Wildcats.

Daniel Dillon was the standout on the night for the Sixers with the 35-year-old captain and 2008 championship winner showing he's far from a spent force. He ended the night with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals on shooting 5/8 from the floor and 6/10 at the foul line.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect for the 36ers was that the next two top scorers were also the team's captains with Daniel Johnson scoring 13 points and Brendan Teys 10.

Without doubt, coach Conner Henry would have been hoping others stepped up including imports Brandon Paul (seven points, five rebounds) and Tony Crocker (five points, three boards).

Jack McVeigh did score nine points for the 36ers, Keanu Pinder seven, Alex Mudronja three and Sunday Dech two.

Sixers coach Conner Henry couldn’t hide his disappointment about how the game turned out the rest of the night after a good start and then a scorching timeout from rival coach Brian Goorjian.

"It was 14-7, I think and Brian called the timeout and I think it was 28-14," Henry said.

"That was our worst game of the season. Our starters were very poor except for this man right here [Daniel Dillon], at the advanced age of 35... he really has a high level of "give a shit" at the end of the day. 

"I didn't think we had that [fight] for a good portion of that game when they went up close to 30 points or something like that. But those guys [36ers' reserves] came off the bench and gave us good minutes."

Before finishing the season with the last three games on the road, the 36ers play their final game of the season at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday against arch-rivals the Perth Wildcats.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 19

ADELAIDE 36ERS 73 (Dillon 17, Johnson 13, Teys 10)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 81 (Froling 19, Harvey 18, White 16) 

BOX SCORE