Champions again: Kings beat 36ers in overtime for sixth NBL title

Brian Goorjian has accomplished his mission to revitalise the Sydney Kings, who clinched their sixth NBL title with a 113-101 overtime defeat of Adelaide in the decisive fifth game of the championship series. Kings guard Kendric Davis (183-PG-1999, college: Memphis) was crowned championship series MVP for producing 35 points and 14 assists in front of an all-time NBL record crowd in Sydney on Easter Sunday. Bryce Cotton (182-G-1992, college: Providence, agency: Pensack Sports) led the 36ers with 35 points of his own in the final chapter of his fiery tit-for-tat with rival point guard Davis that had defined the gripping best-of-five series. The triumph sealed the Kings' first championship since their legendary former coach Goorjian returned with a mandate to reignite the glamour club last season. Goorjian had presided over three consecutive championship wins at the Kings in the early 2000s, when the league was in financial turmoil. Sunday's victory in front of 18,589 fans was an opportunity for the NBL master coach to reflect on just how much Australian basketball had grown since then. "When I walk around the township, and I've won before here, there's never been this interest," he said. "We had it going (in the early 2000s), but the league was in disarray. Right now, doing this, and what this series has done for the league is huge. "The strength of the NBL, there's a great base there, and I just think this series has added an enormous amount of respect from the other codes." The Sixers took a seven-point lead into the final change on Sunday and maintained their advantage until the last minute as they chased a fairytale first title since 2002. But it was a two-point game when Davis slotted one under the basket in the final 30 seconds, before a Tim Soares (211-C-1997, college: Master's) tip-in tied the scores at 95-95 with six seconds remaining. On the final possession of regulation time, Cotton drove to the basket but could not snatch victory for the Sixers as his last-second attempt missed. Davis set the tone, stealing from Cotton in the opening exchanges of overtime, before important 36ers big man Nick Rakocevic (211-F/C-1997, college: USC, agency: Slash Sports) fouled out by grabbing Soares under the basket on the possession that followed. The 36ers were on the back foot from there as frequent tormenter Davis added seven points in overtime. When Makuach Maluach (200-F/G-1998, college: N.Mexico) stole from Cotton and streaked away for a one-handed dunk in the final minute, the Kings had a game-high 13 point lead and were in sight of victory. Sydney had been fancied to win the championship for much of the season, especially after a record-breaking 44-point game-one win this series. But the 36ers clawed back to twice level the series, only to have their hearts broken on the biggest stage. Mike Wells, installed as coach last season to overhaul the club's on-field and off-field standards, said the game-five loss was devastating. "We probably had that game won for about 39 minutes and 16 seconds or something, unfortunately. That's why it's such gut punch," he said. " (But) I couldn't be more proud of the group and the way we competed, I think, all year."
Courtesy of: espn.com