Deng! Milton Doyle wins it at the buzzer in OT

• JackJumpers forward Milton Doyle wins it at the buzzer in overtime
• Teammate Majok Deng has 26 points, including three to tie it up in regulation
• 36ers guard Kendric Davis drops 39 on 13-from-21 from the field.

The NBL — it's fantastic. Tasmania's Majok Deng hit a three with less than 20 seconds left to send the JackJumpers and 36ers into overtime, capping a frenetic 7-0 in the last 1:16 minutes of regulation to tie the game at 95-95.

And, then, Milton Doyle went and tipped in the winner to extract an extraordinary 104-103 comeback win (Game Centre) at MyState Arena on Friday, January 10, 2024.

Seconds before, Doyle had missed a tough 15-foot pull-up jumper over 36ers big man Montrezl Harrell but the rebound ended up in a jump ball with 4.4 seconds to go. Tasmania had the possession arrow and one more crack at it.

Deng missed a wide-open baseline jumper, but Doyle tipped in his second jump, second rebound to win the game with 0.2 seconds left.

"I'm a confident player, I don't care if I miss 20 in a row, I'm going to make the next one," Deng said of his three to send the game into OT.

Deng had himself a ball game, pouring in 26 points on 10-from-19 from the field including three, very big, threes.

Tasmania moves to 12-10 and into 5th, while the loss is a blow to Adelaide, who drop to 9-12 and into 8th.

"It's obviously a remarkable win and as I've always said, a team with high character guys that are humble and hungry, and do the right things, you'll go to bat with them any time," head coach Scott Roth said.

"These guys just continue to show up and fight and scrap despite the adversity and obstacles you deal with throughout a season.

"This is probably one of the greatest games that I've ever been part of to be quite honest with you and without question the best home game ever here in this building.

"Being proud would be an understatement of our guys and their fight, but I know the character of this group and we just are not going to go away."

Adelaide 36ers guard Kendric Davis was straight up elite. He had 39 points on 13-from-21 from the field, including 5-from-10 from three and a fourth quarter worthy of a win. He hit big shot after big shot but for the JackJumpers, as former Houston Rockets coach Rudi Tomjanovich once declared, "never under-estimate the heart of a champion."

NBA bodies are built different. The Adelaide 36ers have two — former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell and Isaac Humphries — and they simply wore out the short-handed frontline of the Tasmania JackJumpers in the first half.

Humphries is 213cm, 114kg while Harrell is 201cm and 109kg. Harrell, 30, had eight rebounds by half-time while Humphries, 27, had seven boards, five coming on the offensive glass. Tasmania scored 30 points in the first quarter, to lead 30-22 but the 36ers dominated the second quarter to lead 53-41 at the main break.

But, inexplicably, Adelaide went away from punishing the JackJumpers in the paint and it kept Tasmania in the game. Colour commentator Lanard Copeland summed up the 36ers third quarter: "They are playing stupid basketball."

It kept Tasmania in it and they stayed in it.

Harrell finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, two blocks, and a steal. He came up with monster and-1 out of a timeout to put the 36ers up 103-102 with 28 seconds go to.

In the third, Tasmania fought back to within seven on the back of three straight threes — back-to-back triples by Deng and Jordon Crawford from the corner — and a tough turnaround by Jordon Crawford, forcing the Sixers to call a timeout.

The JackJumpers closed to within five towards the end of the period but the 36ers regrouped to lead by nine at three-quarter time, 74-65.

But Tasmania came out in the fourth with more energy than the 36ers, ripping into a 16-8 start to pull with one at 82-81 with five minutes to go.

The 36ers put Humphries back in game and it gave the visitors better spacing, leading to Davis knocking down a monster three to push it back to four, 85-81.

Tasmania were again without Australian Boomers big Will Magnay and the just injured guard Sean Macdonald. It gave Nicholas Stoddart, 24, the opportunity to be inserted into the starting line-up. And he made the most of it, hitting 3-from-3 from three in the first quarter.

Stoddart played for Ballarat Miners in NBL1 2024 but trying to stay in front of Kendric Davis, one of the NBL's elite guards put him him foul trouble, picking up his fourth in the third quarter. He didn't get back in the game.

About the Author

Peter Brown is the head coach of the Sydney Comets Women’s Youth League team in the Waratah Basketball League in NSW. He is also the assistant coach for the Comets NBL1 women’s team in the NBL East Conference. Peter is a 30-year journalist, starting as a sports reporter at the NT News in the early 1990s. He played junior basketball for the Northern Territory at national championships from U16 to U20 and for the Territory’s senior men’s team at numerous international tournaments. Peter has been a basketball fan since the early 80s, especially the NBA. Basketball is his passion — and his opinions his own. Email peter.brown@basketball.com.au with feedback. Any email feedback on articles sent to Peter can be published on basketball.com.au for others to read.