[Box Score]
The Melbourne Tigers have snapped a four-game losing skid with a dramatic, emotion-filled 87-84 overtime victory over the Hood Sweeney Adelaide 36ers at the Brett Maher Court on Saturday night.
The Tigers trailed by six points with 62 seconds left in regulation before two clutch Mark Worthington three-point bombs inside the final minute helped force the extension.
Melbourne carried that momentum into overtime to run out victorious before a raucous Adelaide crowd.
The victory, however, was soured - and arguably overshadowed - by the post-game antics of former Sixer Julius Hodge.
After being jeered and heckled from the time he entered the arena and every time he touched the ball given his messy exit from Adelaide last season, Hodge, who baited the parochial South Australian crowd at various stages during the game, celebrated the Tigers' win by aggressively and provocatively stomping on the signature of club legend and long-serving former Sixers captain Brett Maher which adorns the court.
He then returned to do it again, which resulted in unimpressed Adelaide players remonstrating with their former team-mate and even Hodge's own team-mates attempting to pull their star import into line with Worthington publicly apologising for Hodge's actions on behalf of his club post-game.
Worthington (19 points) and Hodge (18) were the Tigers' leading lights - although they were made to work hard for their points, their efforts coming at a combined 10-of-32 from the floor - while point-man Nathan Crosswell (15 points, seven assists) stepped up at the business end.
Despite hitting just four-of-11 free throws, John Gilchrist starred for the hosts (22 points, 12 boards and five assists), while Adam Ballinger (19 points, nine rebounds) and Darren Ng (13 points, including three triples) gave tremendous support.
A four-minute, 9-0 run helped Melbourne out to an 11-4 flier - with Worthington on song early - before the Sixers, after calling a time-out, improved their previously rugged shot selection and worked their way back into the match.
Gilchrist (eight first-term points) rallied the home side, his bullocking drives to the hoop a feature.
The American helped peg the Tigers' buffer to 16-15 at quarter-time before opening the second period with a trey from the top of the key and another strong drive and finish.
Gilchrist's personal tally was up to 13 and Adelaide had hit the lead, 20-18, which became 25-20 with 6:28 on the clock when Brad Hill athletically got on the end of a spectacular alley-oop.
Again, the 36ers lost their flow offensively and the Tigers finished the half strongly with a 13-5 run, including a 6-0 string to close out what had been a scrappy first half with a 33-30 lead.
Ballinger dropped a triple to tie the game early in the third stanza but Melbourne drew away, extending its buffer to seven points midway through the term, 44-37.
The Sixers again worked their way back, Ng - with a big three and a falling, off-balance 15-footer - getting the job done from the perimeter, before a Gilchrist three-point play gave Adelaide a two-point lead, a margin the home outfit would maintain at the final change.
The two sides traded baskets before Hodge, after missing a pair from the charity stripe, duly pickpocketed Ballinger and banked one in after a desperate lunge which ended in a tangled altercation between Hodge and Jacob Holmes on the hardwood under the basket, the pair clashing briefly again a couple of minutes later.
A Gilchrist three and a Ballinger jumper from the corner increased Adelaide's advantage to 66-59 with 5:29 left.
The Tigers showed poise and ate into the deficit, a huge Ballinger block on a Worthington drive followed by a Ballinger two at the end of the subsequent break seven seconds later gave the Sixers a more than handy 75-69 lead with 1:02 left.
But Melbourne refused to yield. A Worthington three-pointer was followed by Hodge dropping 1-of-2 from the stripe to make it a two-point ball-game.
With 21 seconds left, Gilchrist was fouled but missed both free throws. However, he athletically retrieved his second miss off the glass (the point guard snared a game-high five offensive boards) and banked one in off the glass, Adelaide ahead 77-73.
Worthington followed with another monster three with 12 seconds left, reducing the margin to a single point, before Crosswell came up with a timely steal and found Worthington who was fouled by Cortez Groves, with 3.7 seconds left in regulation.
The Beijing Olympian's first shot was all-net but his second missed. Adelaide's scramble for the defensive board saw Ballinger step on the sideline with one second on the clock, Melbourne with the last say.
But Hodge was unable to get anything meaningful up in time so the contest went into extra time, with scores tied at 77-apiece.
Holding all the momentum, the Tigers stepped it up in extra time as Adelaide's offence dried up.
Ng pumpfaked Hodge before nailing a trey with 2:13 on the clock to give Adelaide a one-point buffer before Hodge stuck a baseline jumper on Melbourne's next play to give the visitors the lead again.
This time, the Tigers would maintain the advantage as Crosswell and Hodge iced it from the stripe in the final minute.
The victory improves Melbourne's record to 4-9, while Adelaide slips to 8-6.
Melbourne Tigers 87 (Worthington 19, Hodge 18, Crosswell 15) bt
Hood Sweeney Adelaide 36ers 84 (Gilchrist 22, Ballinger 19, Ng 13)
at Brett Maher Court, South Australia
Crowd: 5894.
Image courtesy of Milbank Photography
