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from yahoo

The Adelaide 36ers clung on to clinch a five point victory over a physical Sydney Kings side in their NBL clash at the Distinctive Homes Dome in Adelaide on Friday night.
Adelaide led by 12 at the first break and held that margin going into the last, but needed a couple of pressure baskets from captain Brett Maher to ensure the 99-94 win after Sydney enjoyed fruitful shooting in the final term.
Maher led all scorers with 26 points including 19 after half time, while Willie Farley (22 points, nine rebounds, five assists) Mark Nash and Dusty Rychart (15 points each) also had their moments.
CJ Bruton and Luke Kendall (21 points each) were the Kings' chief scorers, while David Barlow's 16 points included three triples at 50 per cent.
Sydney wracked up 29 personal fouls, six going to burly import Rolan Roberts who was marched out of the game in the last term.
The 36ers began as if they wanted the contest over by quarter time, nailing the first 12 points of the match and maintaining that margin at the first break, 30-18.
Farley and Nash were ahead of Sydney on their own with 19 points between them, the visitors looking short of accuracy under the basket (32 per cent from the field) and bereft of intensity around the court (six turnovers).
Some stern words from coach Brian Goorjian had little effect on the Kings early in the second as the Sixers' lead grew to 16, but gradually the gap narrowed as Adelaide's efficiency fell.
Sydney found added system in attack, helped by the physical influence of Roberts, and a Jason Smith lay-up reduced the gap to a manageable seven at the half.
It was quickly back out to 12 however as the Sixers again started sharper.
Bruton worked his way into the game with 10 third term points and Adelaide threw away a chance to lead by plenty with 5/14 from the foul line, Rychart particularly culpable.
But the Sixers continually found the right options in attack and retained a 12 point lead at the last change with the assistance of a tech foul against Smith.
Fouls were the one constant of Sydney's night, and Roberts bowed out early in the final term with his sixth.
Sydney attacked from beyond the three point arc in his absence, Kendall collecting a pair of triples to ease the margin back to six, and with four minutes left it was down to a mere three.
But Maher responded with a pair of tough threes, the second a long range shot clock beater, to allow Adelaide the breathing space to win.

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