Bryce Cotton scores 35 and the last eight in a row as the 36ers beat the JackJumpers 94-88

The Tasmania JackJumpers had wiped out a 13-point lead. Nick Marshall hit a three from 23 feet with 2:13 left, and it was 82-82. Then Bryce Cotton took over. He hit a 25-foot three, scored on a layup, and hit another three from 24 feet with 49 seconds to go. Eight straight points, all his, and the Adelaide 36ers won 94-88 in Tasmania on Friday night.

Cotton finished with 35 points on 13-of-26 shooting, with five threes, six rebounds and five assists in 39 minutes. The win lifted Adelaide to 4-4. Tasmania dropped to 4-2.

How it went

Tasmania started much better. The JackJumpers led 22-14 after one quarter and by 10 at 24-14 early in the second. Adelaide came back with an 8-0 run, went ahead with 30 seconds left in the half, and led 40-39 at the break. Tasmania never led again.

The 36ers pulled away in the third. Jacob Rigoni hit a three for a 69-56 lead with 1:52 left in the quarter, Adelaide's biggest of the night. Ben Gold answered with two threes in the last 1:31 of the quarter, and it was 71-62 going into the fourth.

Tasmania chipped away. Marshall opened the fourth quarter with a three, and Dakota Mathias and Will Magnay scored on layups to cut it to 72-70 with 6:43 left. Adelaide kept answering: Nick Rakocevic with a tip-in dunk, John Jenkins with a pull-up jumper and two free throws. Josh Bannan finished two layups from Taran Armstrong passes, and Magnay's three-point play cut it to 80-79 with 2:41 left.

Zylan Cheatham scored twice on passes from Cotton to make it 82-79. Then Marshall tied it, and Cotton won it. All eight of his fourth-quarter points came in a span of 62 seconds, from his first three with 1:51 left to his second with 49 seconds left.

After Cotton's second three, Tasmania had 49 seconds and an eight-point gap. Armstrong scored, Jenkins made two free throws, Magnay scored again and Keanu Rasmussen made two more. David Johnson's basket with two seconds left was the final score.

Adelaide looked after the ball. The 36ers turned it over five times, the JackJumpers 13, and Adelaide had seven steals to Tasmania's three. The benches were close to even: 17 points for Adelaide, 16 for Tasmania.

The numbers

Cheatham had 15 points and 11 rebounds in 40 minutes for Adelaide, and set up Cotton's first three. Rakocevic and Jenkins scored 13 each. Rakocevic went to the line 13 times and made five.

Taran Armstrong led Tasmania with 20 points and 10 assists. Magnay scored 19 on 7-of-9 shooting, Dakota Mathias had 14, Bannan 13 and Gold 12. Tasmania shot slightly better from the field, 35 of 70 against 33 of 68, but Adelaide made 20 free throws to Tasmania's eight.

Scoring: 36ers 94-88 JackJumpers

36ers: Bryce Cotton 35, Zylan Cheatham 15, Nick Rakocevic 13, John Jenkins 13, Keanu Rasmussen 8, Jacob Rigoni 6, Matt Kenyon 4, Corey Webster 0, Deonte Williams 0, Isaac White 0.

JackJumpers: Taran Armstrong 20, Will Magnay 19, Dakota Mathias 14, Josh Bannan 13, Ben Gold 12, Nick Marshall 6, David Johnson 4, Biwali Bayles 0.

By quarter: 36ers 14, 26, 31, 23. JackJumpers 22, 17, 23, 26.