The Melbourne Tigers have virtually knocked the Adelaide 36ers out of playoffs contention on Wednesday night with a 95-85 victory at the State Netball Hockey Centre.
The result saw Melbourne complete an in-season grand slam against Adelaide and, more importantly, kept the Tigers’ late-season surge towards the finals on track.
Adding salt to the 36ers’ wound was what appeared to be a serious knee injury to star import John Gilchrist in the third term who is suspected to have damaged his anterior cruciate ligament.
The match has capped off a spectacular fall from grace for the 36ers who, after being 9-8, have now lost seven of their last eight games and only percentage is keeping them off the bottom of the ladder
But the win came at a cost for Melbourne as well with centre Chris Anstey taking no part in the second half after suffering a back injury.
Import Mike Rose showed The Cage what he is capable of, shooting five three-pointers from as many attempts to end up with 18 points (on 6-7 field shooting) with nine coming in the clutch final term in what his best performance for the club.
Mark Worthington also starred for Melbourne with 21 points, five rebounds and two steals while Daniel Johnson warmed to the challenge in the absence of Anstey, scoring 13 of his 17 points in a dazzling third quarter and hit 6-of-8 field shots.
Adam Ballinger was great for Adelaide with 27 points (11-19 from the field) and five rebounds while Gilchrist had 13 points before he was injured and Herbert collected 13 and five rebounds.
Ultimately Melbourne’s shooting proved the difference with 52 percent from the field (35-67) compared to Adelaide’s 43 percent (33-76).
After a tight opening, Melbourne made the first big break of the game with a 13-2 run that gave it a nine-point lead (18-9).
Worthington was prominent in this stretch with a three-point play, which began with a clever steal at Adelaide’s end, and a huge basket from beyond the perimeter.
But this fired Ballinger into action as he scored nine points in three minutes, including a huge trey, as Adelaide responded with 13 of the next 14 points to snatch the lead (22-19).
Baskets from Sam Mackinnon and Johnson gave the Tigers a quarter-time lead (23-22).
The second quarter was a tug of war for the most part with neither team able to score more than two buckets in a row for nearly seven minutes before Ballinger nailed a double and was fouled immediately after by Anstey.
Ballinger made the additional two free throws and this sparked a 10-1 run that saw Adelaide, which had Gilchrist score eight second-term points including two triples, take a 50-45 advantage.
But Melbourne, well-served by Rose who nailed two threes of his own for the period, rallied and a powerful drive to the basket by Worthington cut the Tigers’ deficit to one (52-51) at half-time.
Johnson exploded after the break in the absence of Anstey to score 13 third-quarter points but it still wasn’t enough to bust the game open.
Even with one of its most damaging players on the night in Gilchrist off the court injured, the 36ers – who found themselves down by seven (72-65) after another Rose three – managed to stick with the hosts thanks largely to Ballinger.
Ballinger drained another nine for the term, including a giant three, to ensure Adelaide trailed by the barest of margins at three-quarter time (73-72).
But the loss of Gilchrist proved insurmountable for Adelaide as Rose put the matter to bed in the final quarter with Melbourne outscoring the 36ers 22-13.
The Tigers went on an 11-4 run in the middle stages of the final quarter that began and ended with Rose.
He first executed a crucial steal to drive to the basket and score a bonus after being fouled to put Melbourne up 83-78 and his fifth three from as many attempts with two minutes remaining ended the contest.
Both teams are next in action on Saturday night. Melbourne (11-13) heads up to the Gold Coast to face the Blaze while Adelaide (10-15) hosts Townsville.
Melbourne Tigers 95 (Worthington 21, Rose 18, Johnson 17)
Adelaide 36ers 85 (Ballinger 27, Herbert 13, Gilchrist 13)
@ State Netball Hockey Centre, 27/1/2010. Crowd: 2,899
