Spirited Sixers go down bravely in Blitz

The Adelaide 36ers have concluded their Code Sports NBL Blitz campaign with a spirited two-point defeat to Tasmania.

The slow-starting Sixers fought their way into the game and pushed the JackJumpers all the way before eventually falling 97-95 at the AIS Arena in Canberra.

Missing five key players, the 36ers saw returning South Australian recruits Isaac Harris (18 points, three rebounds, five assists) and Michael Harris (18 points, three rebounds, one assist) show why head coach Mike Wells was so keen to bring them home in the off-season.

Already undermanned without a host of regulars including Montrezl Harrell, Bryce Cotton, Isaac Humphries and Matt Kenyon, a training incident earlier on Saturday at the team shootaround saw centre Ben Griscti hospitalised with a neck injury and unable to suit up.

And it felt like a nervy opening with the Sixers failing to drop their first four shots. At the other end the JackJumpers were having no such issues with the first five points of the game.

They raced to an 11-2 lead before Harris, playing his first minutes of the Blitz, went to work.

He nailed a three pointer and kept scoring to rack up nine points for the opening stanza, and with Zylan Cheatham getting it done at both ends, the Sixers hit the lead in the final minute to take a one-point quarter time advantage.

With White getting busy, the Sixers extended the lead to nine points early in the second period before Tasmania went on a run of its own to pinch back the lead with David Johnson and Josh Bannan doing most of the damage, and Will Magnay proving important at both ends of the court.

DJ Vasiljevic and Cheatham each missed chances from outside the arc to level the scores but the Sixers went into the half time break down three points.

Vasiljevic found his range after the change and kept his side in the contest, but former Sixer Majok Deng was proving a menace under the basket, taking his tally to 13 points, and the JackJumpers overall lead to eight points as the sides came out for the final period.

It was a breathless final term with end-to-end basketball keeping the Canberra crowd on the edge of their seats. 

The Sixers came hard with Flynn Cameron and White doing much of the damage, but the JackJumpers appeared to have all the answers, as the margin hovered between two and six points.

A cut to Cameron’s elbow requiring him to be subbed off and a shot clock violation to the Tasmanians made for some late drama.

Cameron returned to nail a huge three pointer in the closing seconds before a two-point jump shot to Bannan left the Sixers three points down with eight seconds remaining.

Vasiljevic found his way to the basket to make it a one-point deficit with less than six seconds to play, but a late foul saw the damaging David Johnson (25 points, three rebounds, four assists) extend the margin to two points, where it remained.

For the second straight game, five Sixers finished in double figures for points scored with recruits Cameron (15 points, five rebounds, three assists) and Cheatham (17 points, six rebounds, two assists) impressing.

The Sixers will now return home to Adelaide to prepare for a trip to Mount Gambier to face an NBL1 select side on September 11, before the season proper tips off against Brisbane two weeks later.

TASMANIA 97 (Johnson 25, Bannan 15, Magnay 14) def ADELAIDE 36ERS 95 (White 18, Harris 18, Cheatham 17) at AIS Arena.
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