The Perth Wildcats inflicted a fifth straight NBL loss on a gallant Adelaide 36ers with a 104-93 win at the Distinctive Homes Dome tonight.
The Wildcats led by 23 points early in the third term, before the 36ers, missing the injured Brett Maher and Adam Ballinger, fell short after a stirring fightback.
Shawn Redhage nailed 25 points for Perth with Darnell Hinson (21) and Luke Kendall (11) were also damaging.
Luke Schensher was magnificent for the Sixers to slam home 33 points, while Jacob Holmes (16) and Aaron Bruce (12) finished strongly.
The first term was fiercely contested with a number of tough physical clashes.
Midway through the term, the Sixers’ Paora Winitana sent Isiah Victor crashing to spark off a melee under the boards.
But with Redhage on fire, the visitors showed their offensive superiority to lead 30-18 at the break.
During the second term, Schenscher continued to look the most dangerous for the home side to take his tally to 13 points.
But the Wildcats’ greater offensive options saw them set-up a 57-36 halftime advantage.
With Schensher in need of support, Aaron Bruce and Mark Tyndale came to life in the third period to give the 36ers a more potent offence.
Suddenly the home side grabbed the momentum to trail by just eight points at the final change.
The Wildcats’ defence tightened in the final stanza and the vistiors did enough to see off the Adelaide’s challenge.
Prior to the match, Brett Maher received a standing ovation for reaching 500 NBL games in the 36ers clash with Sydney in Canberra last month.
Wildcats coach Connor Henry said his side’s poor shooting in the third term allowed the 36ers to get back in the game.
“They got a little bit of momentum, they made some shots and Luke (Schenscher) was a handful tonight,” he said.
“But I was pleased that we weathered the storm.”
Henry said the Wildcats’ goal was to come out and play physical basketball and he was pleased with the start his side made.
“We really shot the ball well in that first half, but in the second half things didn’t go quite our way,” he said.
“For the most part we did what we wanted to do.”
Adelaide coach Scott Ninnis said he was pleased with his players’ efforts.
“I thought the way we came out was a lot better than the way we have started over the previous month,” he said.
“But what killed us was 10 turnovers in the first quarter.
“Our inability to execute on the break led to them getting a lot of stuff in transition.”
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