The Melbourne Tigers’ late charge towards a playoffs berth has continued unabated on Saturday night with a remarkable 89-87 victory over the Adelaide 36ers in a titanic tussle that saw 14 lead changes at the State Netball Hockey Centre.
A buzzer-beating three-point attempt from Adam Ballinger was unsuccessful and may have ended the 36ers’ post-season chances.
Mark Worthington was brilliant for Melbourne with 24 points – 14 coming in the first period - and six rebounds, while Chris Anstey (17, nine) and Sam Mackinnon, who hit 12 of his 14 points in the third term, were important contributors too.
For Adelaide, Ballinger (24), John Gilchrist (16, five, four assists) and Nathan Herbert (14, four, five) were the best.
Scores were tied at 77-77 when Gilchrist nailed a huge three 2:23 into the final term but a Julius Hodge tip-in and trey to Worthington gave Melbourne some momentary breathing space with an 82-77 advantage.
Adelaide fired back with three baskets of its own – two going to Herbert – to wrest the lead back (83-82) with 4:30 remaining in the match.
Melbourne got back out to an 86-83 lead but Gilchrist leveled things up yet again at 86-86 with another three.
However, poor foul shooting at the death may ultimately cost Adelaide a berth in the playoffs with Groves missing a pair and Burston only converting one of two before Worthington scored the game-winning three-pointer to hand Melbourne a memorable victory.
And in such a tight match, the 36ers would rue the fact they gave away so many free-throw chances with Melbourne hitting 20-26 compared to Adelaide’s 6-12 at the charity stripe.
The Tigers have now won five of their last six, have won four in a row for the first time since Round 20 last season and are now in sixth position on the ladder.
The result means Adelaide has now lost five of their last six and will have to win at least four of their last five matches to have any hope of post-season action.
Matt Burston started the match in scintillating fashion with a pair of one-handed dunks but that was nothing in comparison to the Worthington show that followed.
The Tigers captain erupted to score 10 of his 14 first-quarter points - including two huge threes - in a 14-4 run that handed Melbourne a 16-8 advantage.
However, Adelaide responded in devastating fashion to score 20 of the last 29 points of the term to take a 28-25 quarter-time lead.
In this stretch, Brad Hill was dominant with eight points – including three consecutive baskets – while Adam Ballinger nailed five of his nine first-term points, including a huge trey.
Adelaide extended its lead to six (35-29) when Jacob Holmes drained a triple 2:07 into the second term but baskets from Daryl Corletto and a Tommy Greer three-point play helped Melbourne to an 8-2 run which leveled proceedings at 37-37.
The momentum shifted once again as a Herbert trey and doubles from Ballinger and Gilchrist put the 36ers back out to a five-point lead (44-39).
But Melbourne fought back to close out the half with an 8-2 run of its own.
Debutant Tigers import Mike Rose didn’t waste any time endearing himself to the crowd when he nailed a three with his first-ever shot in the NBL and Anstey followed this with a bucket to give Melbourne a one-point half-time lead (47-46).
The third quarter was an individual battle between Ballinger and Mackinnon as they well and truly brought their A-games, scoring 13 and 12 points respectively for the term.
Both teams practically traded baskets for the first three minutes of the term before Ballinger caught fire, scoring three buckets in a row to put Adelaide up 62-59.
However, Adelaide coach Scott Ninnis did his team no favours by drawing a technical foul for incessant arguing about an apparent goaltend violation on Anstey that wasn’t called.
The infringement sent Anstey to the foul line for two easy points and sparked a 9-0 run for the hosts which was capped off beautifully by a Mackinnon trey.
Cortez Groves reined in the Tigers with two crucial baskets to cut Adelaide’s deficit to three (72-69) by the final change.
Melbourne’s (9-12) next engagement is with Perth at the State Netball and Hockey Centre on Wednesday while Adelaide (10-13) travels to Auckland to face off with the New Zealand Breakers in a do-or-die clash on Thursday.
Melbourne Tigers 89 (Worthington 24, Anstey 17, Mackinnon 14)
Adelaide 36ers 87 (Ballinger 24, Gilchrist 16, Herbert 14)
@ The State Netball Hockey Centre, 16/1/2010. Crowd: 3,262
