Norton, Holt lead the charge for Bullets

Jacob Holt and Mitch Norton led the Brisbane Bullets admirably on Wednesday night on the Gold Coast and while the drama late with seven players ejected will be a focus, they did compete hard despite the eventual 33-point Adelaide 36ers win.

The game really blew out late for the 36ers to prevail 107-74 at the Gold Coast Sport and Leisure Centre on Wednesday night after a scuffle broke out under the basket with three minutes remaining.

The end result was Nick Rakocevic receiving a disqualifying foul for the 36ers, but for the Bullets Hunter Maldonado, Terry Taylor, Tristan Devers and Taine Murray were sent for an early shower as were players not suited up to play, Alex Ducas and Sam McDaniel.

Despite what the final scoreline suggested, there was plenty to like in the performance from the Bullets up until when things really blew out late in the piece.

Brisbane finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds which helped them to take 13 extra shots than Adelaide even with going 3/30 from downtown before Jack Purchase knocked down three in the final minutes.

Jacob Holt was once again an exciting highlight for the Bullets and he had 17 points alone in the first half on 6/7 shooting with the Bullets only six points down by half-time on the back of pulling down seven offensive rebounds to one, and forcing the 36ers into 10 turnovers while having just four themselves.

The problem was Adelaide shot 78 per cent from the field in that first half but there were still fighting qualities from the Bullets and Holt finished the night with 24 points, five rebounds and 9/14 shooting while being a perfect 6/6 at the foul line.

Captain Mitch Norton led the defensive charge on his former teammate Bryce Cotton and also ended up with 11 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.

Purchase also had those nine points late with Tristan Devers having nine points, three steals and two rebounds, Terry Taylor eight points and 10 boards, Hunter Maldonado seven points and eight assists, and Taine Murray six points.

The result for Adelaide locks them into the Ignite Cup Final back on the Gold Coast and also keeps them in top spot with Cotton still finishing with 22 points and eight assists but a lot of his points came late in the piece.

John Jenkins also scored 19 points for the Sixers, Flynn Cameron 16, Isaac Humphries 16 and DJ Vasiljevic 12 points.

Adelaide did score the opening five points of the game before Brisbane got on the board courtesy of a three-pointer from Terry Taylor, but the Sixers were feeling good early and were soon on top 20-8.

The Bullets were able to work back into the contest from there starting with five quick points from Tristan Devers as he entered the game before Taine Murray hit a triple, and Jacob Holt scored six quick points.

Adelaide were still leading 33-24 by quarter-time on the back of shooting a scorching 85 per cent from the field but the Bullets were competing hard and that continued through the second frame.

The Bullets pulled down six offensive rebounds for the quarter and went on to outscore the 36ers 22 points to 19 on the back of a dominant showing from Holt who scored 11 of his 17 points to cut the 36ers advantage to 52-46 by the half-time interval.

It wasn’t the ideal start to the second half again for the Bullets with the Sixers scoring the first seven points leading to an early Darryl McDonald timeout, but the home team did respond well soon scoring six straight points.

That included five of those from Holt including a monster offensive rebound and put back dunk but by three quarter-time it was Adelaide leading 68-55.

The 36ers had been able to extend out their lead to beyond 20 before things all blew up with three minutes remaining, and despite three Jack Purchase three balls from there for Brisbane, Adelaide put up 18 points in the last 180 seconds for the eventual 33-point victory.

The Bullets now have nine days before playing again with the hope of getting some bodies back for a trip to Hobart to take on the Tasmania JackJumpers next Friday night.

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