Cotton shines as 36ers survive late rally to pip United

Résumé détaillé

Cole Anthony dragged Melbourne United out of a perilous spot, before Bryce Cotton stepped up and saved the Adelaide 36ers' bacon and secured an eight-point win.

Adelaide have survived a late scare against Melbourne, almost squandering a 34-point first-half lead to cling on for a 101-93 NBL victory.

United looked a rabble as they fell into a 55-21 hole with 3:24 remaining in the second quarter at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Thursday night, before Cole Anthony led a stunning fightback, slashing the margin to four points inside the last three minutes.

But against a tidal wave of momentum, Bryce Cotton saved the Sixers when he splashed back-to-back three-pointers in 30 seconds.

John Jenkins scored 21 points, Zylan Cheatham posted 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Cotton paired 19 points with 10 assists.

"I thought our first half was some of the best basketball we've played," 36ers coach Trevor Gleeson said.

"Our defence was outstanding ... and offensively we were moving the ball."

The Sixers raced out of the blocks, finishing the opening term with separate 9-0 and 7-0 bursts to storm to a 27-10 quarter-time lead.

Adelaide led the rebound count 17-6, while restricting United to 4-of-17 from the field.

It was more of the same in the second stanza, Jacob Rigoni splashing an early three to make it a 19-1 run either side of the first break.

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