The Tigers ended a six-game losing streak and recorded their first win of 2012 with a hard-fought 87-81 victory over a struggling Adelaide 36ers in Melbourne.
Cam Tragardh bagged 14 of his 20 points in the final quarter to lead the Tigers home, while Liam Rush (18 points) had a productive outing.
Chris Warren provided the spark for the 36ers with a game-high 31 points, while fellow import Diamon Simpson (17 points, nine rebounds), centre Daniel Johnson (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Stephen Weigh (12 points) were key contributors.
Scoring dwindled after the 36ers jumped to an early 10-0 lead, with Adelaide turning to a zone and the Tigers using their full-court press to get easy baskets.
Myron Allen (12 points, eight assists, six rebounds) did his best to involve his team-mates after picking up a couple of early fouls, but the Tigers' lack of movement against the zone trapped them on the perimeter and starved Tragardh of opportunities.
The Tigers upped their energy in the third quarter with Adelaide switching back to man-to-man and Ron Dorsey (12 points) finding lanes to the basket.
Melbourne took its first lead with two minutes to go in the period, but the 36ers held strong to level the scores at 61-61 at the final break thanks to a Weigh triple.
But it was Melbourne's crafty new point-guard Allen, Tragardh's late heroics and a coast-to-coast Daniel Dillon basket that brought relief to the Tigers' faithful.
Off the court for the Tigers, long-time Melbourne board member Michael Slepoy has been appointed chief executive, replacing the controversial Seamus McPeake.
Meanwhile, Cairns Taipans escaped with an 85-81 home win over Townsville Crocodiles after trailing by as many as eight points in the final term.
AAP
Tags: nbl, basketball, sport, adelaide-5000 First posted February 03, 2012 23:47:43
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