36ers lock in Ignite Cup spot in fiery finish

The Adelaide 36ers were made to earn it and Bryce Cotton was kept relatively quiet but they beat the Brisbane Bullets by 33 points.

Things got spicy late with seven players ejected after a scuffle under the basket but the Adelaide 36ers got the win they needed to hit back and book in an Ignite Cup Final spot beating the Brisbane Bullets 107-74.

The 36ers had already done enough to not only win the game but to advance to the Ignite Cup presented by Disney+ Final with three minutes to go when things did explode.

Adelaide big man Nick Rakocevic and Bullets point guard Hunter Maldonado were jostling under the rim before that ended up in a scuffle on the floor before plenty more players got involved including from the nearby Brisbane bench.

The end result of it was both Rakocevic and Maldonado receiving disqualifying fouls as did Bullets import forward Terry Taylor who was trying to get Rakocevic off his teammate.

Taine Murray and Tristan Devers were also sent for an early shower for Brisbane as were Alex Ducas and Sam McDaniel who weren’t even suited up to play for leaving the bench.

In the end, it didn’t impact the result with the Sixers winning as they hit back after losing three of their past four matches to start strongly with 33 points to 24 in the first quarter.

The Bullets then outscored Adelaide 22-19 in the second period with Jacob Holt having 17 points to his name already by half-time with Brisbane taking 37 shots to 23 with seven offensive rebounds to one despite the 36ers leading 52-46.

The Sixers still needed to win the game and both third and fourth quarters to lock in a place in the Ignite Cup Final, and they did that with 16 points to nine in the third period, and then another 39 to 19 in the fourth including 18 points to nine after all the drama.

That locks in the 36ers for the Ignite Cup Final back on the Gold Coast on Sunday February 22 with it now confirmed their opponents are the New Zealand Breakers.

The win also keeps the 36ers on top of the NBL table at 21-7 on a night where they had 25 assists as a team with 39/58 shooting at 67 per cent with 18/19 free-throw shooting.

The Bullets did a strong job containing Bryce Cotton for a lot of the game and getting the ball out of his hands but he still ended up with 22 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two blocks.

John Jenkins added 19 points on 5/9 three-point shooting with Flynn Cameron contributing 16 points and three assists, Isaac Humphries 16 points, five rebounds, four blocks and three assists, and DJ Vasiljevic 15 points on 3/5 shooting from long range.

Jacob Holt was once again a great shining light for the Bullets with the rookie big man having 17 points in the first half on his way to 24 for the game with five rebounds on 9/13 shooting 6/6 at the charity stripe.

Captain Mitch Norton did an impressive defensive job on former teammate Cotton for a lot of the night and finished with 11 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals with Jack Purchase coming on to hit three late triples after all the drama cleared.

The Bullets now have a bit of time to regroup ahead of returning to action next Friday night on the road to the Tasmania JackJumpers while the 36ers are back home for the first time since January 9 to host the South East Melbourne Phoenix in a top spot battle on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26 – IGNITE CUP PRESENTED BY DISNEY+

BRISBANE BULLETS 74 (Holt 24, Norton 11, Devers 9, Purchase 9)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 107 (Cotton 22, Jenkins 19, Cameron 16, Humphries 16)

BOX SCORE

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36ers lock in Ignite Cup spot in fiery finish