“Never quit, never wavered”: Wells proud of Sixers’ gritty win in NZ

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells has praised his side’s heart and never-say-die attitude following the seesawing overtime win over New Zealand on Friday night.

Wells’ side bounced back from consecutive losses for the first time this season with the 112-110 victory at Auckland’s Spark Arena.

Bryce Cotton starred with 33 points, five rebounds and nine assists, as well as hitting the match-winning three-pointer with a second to play, as the Sixers got back to winning ways.

He was well supported by veteran recruit John Jenkins who hit 24 points including 6/11 from the beyond the three-point arc in just his second game in Sixers colours.

The result means the Sixers have won 20 games in a season for just the fifth time in their history, and the first time in 25 years.

After the game, Wells said the group would review what happened after being 10 points up with three minutes of regulation time to play, though he was pleased with his side’s “heart” and “grit”.

“I just think that we've done this over and over and over on the road,” Wells said.

“I think it's a really, really important quality to find ways to win.

“And for us, these are playoff games. That was a playoff game for New Zealand. It's a playoff game for us.

“We hadn't lost two in a row. It was really important for us to get back on the winning side of it. I think that your grit and your character, and I love our group. They've been super coachable…

“And it's a credit to them, and the maturity of our group, and how well they've come together and how well they like mesh.”

The Sixers were spritely early on with Isaac Humphries getting some early points and Bryce Cotton finding his feet quickly.

Flynn Cameron took charge when they both went to the bench to race to seven first-quarter points before a late three to Max Darling brought the home side back to within a point at the end of the first period.

The early stages of the second quarter were all about new Sixer John Jenkins who, in his second game, nailed 10 points for the period including a pair of triples.

At one point the Sixers led by nine points but next star Karim Lopez sparked his side in what was at times a heated battle, helping the Breakers close to within four as the teams headed to the locker rooms for the main break.

From there the home side found a way to slow the Sixers’ scoring with shots just failing to drop, and soon enough Wells’ side trailed by as many as eight points.

Cameron, back in his hometown, brought some energy to get his side back to within one point at the final change.

As it had throughout the game, the momentum continued to swing. Just when the Sixers had opened up a ten-point advantage, the Breakers hit back with Parker Jackson-Cartwright hitting a couple of big shots to push the game to overtime, after Cotton had a chance to win it but missed a difficult late layup.

It seemed like everything was going the Breakers’ way in the extra period. They scored quickly early, and when Zylan Cheatham fouled out of the game, it felt like hope may have been lost for the visitors as the seconds ticked away.

That’s when Cameron stepped up again with a big triple to cut the deficit to just one point.

Then the Breakers made a big mistake from an inbound pass with 9.7 seconds to play. Strong defence caused a five-second inbound violation, giving the Sixers the ball and chance to win the game.

Step up Cotton, who took the responsibility of handling the ball and hit a match-winning three with one second to play, not going to be denied a match-winner a second time in the game.

The win keeps the Sixers on top of the ladder, two wins clear of second placed South East Melbourne, and the result could not have been more important for Wells in the run-in to the playoffs.

“Huge, absolutely huge,” he said when asked how big the result was. “I mean, I think every one of these games is huge.

“Anything you’ve got to do to get a win, you’ve got to get the win, and what we did today was show heart and character and all those things, but it comes down to grit.

“The guys never quit; they never wavered.

“We knew the score, we knew the time, we knew the foul situation, and then we just kept working the problem to figure out how we could get the shot that we wanted.”

The Sixers will next head to Sydney to take on the Kings on Sunday with less than 48 hours between games.