Wells on Hawks loss: “That one stings”

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells says Thursday night’s heartbreaking loss to Illawarra was hard to take but he was confident his side would fight back from its recent adversity.

The Sixers led for much of the game after overcoming a slow start but couldn’t close out the game after giving the Hawks too many looks in the dying stages.

The 100-99 loss at Wollongong’s WIN Entertainment Centre ended a run of eight straight wins over the Hawks and meant the Sixers slipped to second on the Hungry Jack’s NBL ladder after an earlier victory by South East Melbourne over New Zealand.

Wells said his side didn’t maintain ball security or defend the three ball well in the last quarter.

“(It was) kind of the perfect storm, right,” he said. “the four turnovers, a couple of situations where we looked like we were going to have the ball secured and we didn't.

“And then, I believe probably three or four overhelps, which led to the five threes (by the Hawks).

“When you have the lead like that, particularly in the fourth, you don't want to give up threes and you don't want to give up and ones and unfortunately, they kept finding the three ball on us and making the extra pass so you’ve got to give them a lot of credit.”

While he was disappointed with his side’s execution late, he couldn’t fault its fight, to come back from ten points down early and build what should have been a match-winning lead.

“You know, it's a hard one,” Wells said.

“We did a lot of really good things and unfortunately, to give up 31 (points) in the fourth is not going to be the recipe for a win.

“We've won a lot of big games up here and their backs are against the wall a little bit.

“There's a lot of championship DNA running through those veins over there (so) we knew that we were going to have to play a full 40 minutes, and unfortunately, we just came up a little bit short.”

Knowing their finals hopes rested on winning, the reigning NBL champions were firing early, particularly recently announced Australian resident Tyler Harvey who hit three triples without a miss in the first period.

Not to be outdone, Sixer John Jenkins hit two threes of his own, including one on the quarter time buzzer to bring what was a double-digit deficit back to six points at the first break.

The Sixers almost seemed to be a little too selfless, looking to pass when in good scoring spots and turning the ball over four times for the first quarter.

A six point deficit became a six point lead by half time as the Sixers tightened up defensively and showed good energy on the offensive end.

Back from suspension, Nick Rakocevic was proving tough to guard for the Hawks, hitting 10 first-half points as well as pulling down six rebounds, while Zylan Cheatham added six rebounds and six assists to his six points for the half.

Having been kept relatively quiet in the first 20 minutes, Bryce Cotton sparked into action in the third period with 12 points and four assists for the quarter.

The Sixers were spreading the scoring around and led by 11 points in the dying seconds of the quarter before Will Hickey hit a late two to bring it back to nine points with a quarter to play.

With his 18^th point for the game Cotton ticked over his highest scoring season in his 10^th NBL campaign, and he added 10 more points to lead all scorers for the game (along with two rebounds, three steals and nine assists).

While Cotton and the Sixers kept threatening to blow the game open, Harvey kept hitting the threes for the Hawks to keep them in the game.

And they did more than that, fighting right back to pinch the lead, with Wani Swaka Lo Buluk scrapping his way to tip the ball in the basket.

With 5.7 seconds to play, the Sixers had the ball and Cotton had a good look for three, only to watch it bounce off the rim to Flynn Cameron, who couldn’t convert the rebound.

For Wells it was one that got away, but he was adamant that his side would fight through its recent adversity.

And he said he knew that after consecutive losses, there would be pressure on him and his side as finals approached.

“It's part of it as the head coach,” Wells said.

“You kind of have to shoulder all that and that's what leadership is and you try to get the guys focused on what's next.

“Now, that one stings. There's no other way to put it.

 “We led for a long time and you just want to get the thing over the line, but, you gotta make one more play.

 “We had two really, really, really good looks right there to make a play and the ball didn't bounce our way, and we've got to move on and you gotta move on quickly.”

And he was right about needing to move on quickly.

The Sixers will be straight back on the road, jetting south to Melbourne to face Melbourne United on Saturday night.