MANILA, Philippines – Kai Sotto barely saw the floor as the Adelaide 36ers slumped to their second straight loss in the National Basketball League following a 92-91 road loss to the Brisbane Bullets on Sunday, April 3.

Sitting out the entire second half, Sotto tallied 3 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist in under five minutes of play in the defeat that saw Adelaide squander a nine-point advantage and run out of time for the game-winning shot.

Blowing leads has been the norm for the 36ers recently as they also wasted a 10-point cushion in their 72-80 loss to the Tasmania JackJumpers last Friday.

Unlike their defeat to Tasmania, though, Adelaide stayed in the game against the Bullets until the final minute and even almost stole the win.

Daniel Johnson drained his free throws to cut the 36ers’ deficit to a whisker, 91-92, while Brisbane forward Lamar Patterson muffed a layup with 17 seconds left to set up the frantic finish.

Sunday Dech grabbed an offensive rebound off Hyrum Harris’ missed layup and drained a baseline jumper for what would have been the Adelaide game-winner, but the referees ruled that it came after the final buzzer.

Jason Cadee starred for the Bullets with 26 points and 7 triples, the last of which he sank with two minutes remaining to break an 86-86 deadlock.

Cadee waxed hot from the get-go as he drained all of his first 5 three-pointers in the opening period, with Brisbane seizing a 30-26 lead.

But the 36ers found their rhythm in the middle quarters behind star big man Daniel Johnson, who gave them their biggest lead of the game at 68-59 with a floater in the third salvo.

That lead, however, immediately vanished as Brisbane rode on a 15-5 run bridging the third and fourth periods to take the upper hand, 74-73.

Robert Franks churned out 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Patterson put up 14 points on the way to helping the Bullets climb to 9-15.

Sliding to 7-15, Adelaide banked on Johnson, who put together an impressive all-around outing of 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Dech finished with 14 points and 4 rebounds, while Harris provided 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists in the losing effort. – Rappler.com