Wells moves focus to Hawks after OT defeat

Adelaide 36ers head coach Mike Wells said his team needs to bounce back straight away after Friday night’s 104-103 overtime loss to Tasmania JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena.

The 36ers held a seven-point lead with just under 90 seconds remaining in regulation, but the defending champions forced overtime.

Wells said his side stuck together, Adelaide fighting back from a four-point deficit in the extra session to take a 103-102 lead with 20 seconds to go.

“We had control of the game for a majority of the contest, and had it won multiple times,” Wells said post-match.

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“They had 17 offensive rebounds, 10 of those were in the second half and two of them were on that last possession in overtime.

“You got to close possessions, and this is a painful one.

“We got a quick turnaround now and we have a big game against Illawarra now.”

Adelaide fought back from a double-digit deficit in the opening half, with a stunning 31-11 second quarter burst to go into the main break with a 53-41 lead.

“We found our rhythm in that second quarter,” Wells said.

“We executed what we wanted to do, we knew the energy, we knew the pace, we knew they were going to keep coming.”

The 36ers return to home court against league leaders Illawarra Hawks on Monday night and Wells said will learn from Friday night’s defeat.

“We had some possessions in the fourth where we didn’t get clean looks and didn’t get into things,” Wells said.

“Our inefficiencies on offense led to some run outs and threes in transition.

“Once they made their run, I thought we hung in there and made some plays to win the game, but came up a little short.

“We didn’t make a play at the end.”

Adelaide will be back in action on Monday night, when the 36ers host Illawarra Hawks at the Entertainment Centre from 7pm ACDT.