The fast-paced, high-scoring clash went down to the wire but the home side withstood the Sixers’ late charge to secure a win in their last game of the regular season.

Jacob Holmes raced out of the blocks against his former side, sinking four of five from behind the arc on his way to 11 points, two boards and one assist for the opening term. Holmes’ effort in the opener set the pace for the Dragons, who were high on hustle and sharp from the field from tip-off.

Brent Hobba continued his recent good form, checking into the game early and with immediate impact, contributing seven points for the quarter.

Kavossy Franklin also joined the shot-fest, with 10 to his name en route to a team-high 32-point haul.

Adelaide gained a brief lead midway through the opener when Marcus Timmons found the basket from down low but a flash of brilliance behind the arc from Shane Heal had the Dragons back in front. Franklin, Hobba and Joe Ingles then piled on a string of late goals to take the Dragons out to a 36-29 lead at the first break.

Showing no sign of the past weekend’s woes the Dragons were on fire from the outset, with 77.8% accuracy from the field, 100% from behind the arc and 81.8% at the stripe in the first term.

Inaccuracy from the field damaged the Sixers, who shot at just 42.3% accuracy and were dominated on the defensive rebound tally.

But the visitors worked their way into the second term, trimming the margin to just three points. Then just as the Sixers threatened to surge, Jacob Holmes netted three successive three-pointers to help stem the charge.

Holmes, Franklin and Heal combined to shoot the margin out to eight but the Dragons had a tough time establishing a more comfortable buffer; just as South threatened to blow the game apart the Sixers fought back, restricting the margin to single figures for most of the second term.

A late effort by Joe Ingles - dropping one in from long range then netting a second slam dunk - saw the Dragons out to an 81-68 lead and with all the momentum at the major split.

But the Sixers again hit back in the third, working to cut the deficit to two by midway through the quarter. A technical foul to Heal saw Brett Maher sent to the stripe, where he converted two from two to level the scores.

The Dragons, however, were not about to let this one slip - Franklin, Heal and Ingles all found the basket to set up a 14-point lead by the final break.

The high-scoring shootout continued into the fourth term along with plenty of action below the rim. Holmes (28 points, 14 boards, three assists) and Ellis (nine points, 22 boards, two assists) starred against the Sixers’ talls, working overtime in defence to record double-figure rebound tallies for the night.

With the Dragons’ lead out to 15 points and six minutes left on the clock it seemed the home side had the win secured. But Adelaide upped their work rate to cut that buffer to just two points with 29 seconds left on the clock.

A late foul against Brett Maher allowed Ingles two points from the stripe but the Sixers found a quick reply. Heal too was sent to the free-throw line in the dying seconds of the game, shooting South out to a three-point lead before Lanard Copeland saved the day for the Sixers with a long range bomb on the buzzer to level the scores.

Adelaide didn’t waste time scoring when play resumed, firing a quick three points to which Heal found an immediate response. The Sixers soon ran into foul trouble with Ellis, Hobba and Heal all sent to the stripe in five minutes of play, Ellis three times.

Heal netted a trademark bomb to see the Dragons’ lead out to six with under two minutes to play but the Sixers kept fighting back as the game went down to the wire. Brett Maher was the Sixers’ last hope for victory before Hobba and Holmes teamed up to rob him of the ball with just seconds on the clock, setting up an epic 149-147 win.

South Dragons 149 (Franklin 32, Heal 30, Holmes 28)
Adelaide 36ers 147 (Horvath 34, Maher 29, Copeland 25)
Crowd: 1001 @ Geelong Arena, 07/02/07