NBL ladder leaders, the Adelaide 36ers have come from behind to complete a 95-84 win over the Perth Wildcats at the Perth Arena on Saturday night.
The 36ers trailed for most of the first half and by as many as 16 points, but fought back to claim their fourth consecutive victory and 12th in 13 appearances.
It was a patient performance by Adelaide, who was ambushed in the opening term by the Cats.
But in the run home, Adelaide's Jerome Randle (17 points) and Nathan Sobey (19) lifted the tempo of the game and the Cats couldn't go with them.
Scores had been tied 66-66 at the last break.
Perth rode a wave of momentum in to the game and led by nine points midway through the opening term. They were playing in front of their biggest home crowd ever (13,611), and were on a three-game winning streak of their own going into the clash, all on the road.
Skipper Damian Martin was playing his first game in Perth since injuring his knee in round five and new recruit, former NBA guard Bryce Cotton was making his debut at home, with a big reputation.
But it was as if Adelaide had planned for a fast start from the Cats and knew to wait for the emotion to fade out.
By half-way through the third term, the 36ers had caught the Cats, taken the lead and were more than a basket in front.
Sobey and Randle, who had been super quiet in the first half, came alive and started hitting baskets.
Earlier, Cotton showed his new adoring fans that he has the game to match his reputation.
He didn't score in the opening term, but he had three assists to his name.
Casey Prather benefitted the most from his smooth transition work, with eight points in the first term, as Perth took a 24-17 lead into the break.
Of those 17 points the 36ers had, 10 were from the free-throw line; and Mitch Creek led them with five.
Cotton showed he has a defensive game as well, keeping Randle (who scored 40 points the last time he was in Perth) scoreless in the opening term.
That allowed Martin to shadow Sobey, who also had zero next to his name after the first 10 minutes.
Daniel Johnson also worked his way into the game also and had 11 of his 19 points by half-time.
Cotton had 12 to his name at the same time as the Cats led 44-41 at the main break.
Adelaide coach Joey Wright said he was happy that his side was able to fight back through adversity and stick with their game plan to get the win.
"I wouldn't say it was one of our better games," he said.
"First half we didn't look ourselves, but we were able to come back in the second half, find our identity and knock some shots down, which always helps.
"I think our guys played beautifully for two and half quarters."
Perth coach Trevor Gleeson said the record home crowd saw the good, bad and ugly sides of his team.
"We were good at certain parts there. That was encouraging. But the second half was disappointing," he said.
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