South East Melbourne have produced a first-half shooting blitz to notch a 108-94 NBL win over the Adelaide 36ers.
The Phoenix knocked down 13-of-19 threes in a blistering opening half at John Cain Arena on Saturday night to seize control, before surviving a spirited second-half rally from the Sixers.
Angus Glover (20 points, 6-of-8 three-pointers), D'Shawn Schwartz (20 points) and Dash Daniels (18) piloted the Phoenix (4-5) who edged past Adelaide (4-5) into seventh spot on percentage.
"We came out with the right intent, right mindset," SEM coach Josh King.
"Shooting the ball like that always helps.
"Excellent first half. Proud of the guys."
Bryce Cotton (37 points, eight assists), Zylan Cheatham (21 points) and Nick Rakocevic (18 points, 17 rebounds) led the 36ers' charge.
The white-hot Phoenix hit the Sixers with a buzzsaw, burying their first eight three-pointers, and their first 10 shots in total.
Glover's triple on the quarter-time horn was SEM's 10th from 12 attempts as they charged ahead 42-25.
It was the highest first-quarter score in Phoenix history.
The fumbling, bumbling Sixers' nightmare got even worse in the second term.
Glover's fourth trey without a miss and Yannis Morin's steal and dunk were the highlights of a 22-0 spree either side of quarter-time as SEM's advantage ballooned to a whopping 59-25.
Jacob Rigoni's three with 5:40 on the clock was Adelaide's belated first score for the quarter.
The 36ers' defence was poor, their careless ball-handling even worse and they fell behind 72-43 at halftime.
The Phoenix fell two points short of their own NBL record for most first-half points during the 40-minute era (74).
The Phoenix's video-game pace cooled in the third term and Adelaide lifted at both ends.
The Sixers still trailed 81-53 before peeling off 13 unanswered points and slashing the deficit to 86-72 at three-quarter-time.
Adelaide carried that momentum into the fourth period, scoring the first six points to close to 86-76 when Cheatham hit two free throws after Glover was pinged with an unsportsmanlike foul.
Cotton ran riot down the stretch, trimming the gap to eight, but it was always going to be a bridge too far for the 36ers.
"I really liked the second-half team; I don't like the first-half team," Adelaide coach Trevor Gleeson said.
"They came out aggressive, we were passive.
"Really disappointed with how we came out."
