The Cairns Taipans produced a remarkable three-point barrage in the first half but ultimately Montrezl Harrell and Kendric Davis were too much as the Adelaide 36ers prevailed 99-93 in overtime.
Cairns hit 11-of-19 from three in the first half but just 4-of-17 the rest of the way as the Sixers came from 19 points down to win in overtime, outscoring the Taipans 11 points to five in the extra period.
The difference was the imposing presence of big man Harrell, who finished with a monstrous 36 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks while even hitting three long balls.
Point guard Kendric Davis then fired in the second half and overtime to end up with 29 points and eight assists with 10-of-13 foul shooting.
Adelaide coach Mike Wells was pleased with the way his group responded after half-time.
"I think we're probably all feeling exhausted after that, but we probably gave a little too spirited of a talk at half-time," he said.
"What we did defensively from the first half to the second was like night and day, and I couldn't be prouder of the way the group competed for a full 40, and five extra."
Before of another sold out crowd of 9,382 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, the Snakes arrived still missing star young point guard Taran Armstrong and import centre Tanner Groves, and having lost three straight.
They produced the most remarkable three-point shooting performance in the first half, landing 11 long bombs with three apiece from Rob Edwards (27 points, six rebounds, five assists), Dillon Stith (nine points, four boards) and Kyrin Galloway (nine points, seven rebounds).
That helped the Taipans lead by as much as 19 points, with the stunning 59-43 half-time advantage leaving the crowd in shocked silence.
Energy wise, it was a vastly different home team to start the second half. They went on an early 11-0 scoring run and by three quarter-time had cut the Cairns lead back to eight points.
The Sixers grabbed the lead on the back of the continued work of Harrell and then point guard Davis in the fourth quarter, but Sam Waardenburg (18 points, 14 rebounds) delivered a three-point play with 12 seconds to go for Cairns to send the game to overtime.
Adelaide managed to lead by six in overtime but Cairns kept coming even after Waardenburg fouled out.
The Snakes forced a back court violation on the 36ers with 10 seconds to go but the 36ers did enough to hold on for the win to improve to 5-3.
Taipans coach Adam Forde was proud of his group afterwards.
"The boys played their hearts out and I get on them about some stuff, but tonight was not going to be one of those nights," he said.
"They absolutely played their hearts out and I'm proud of them."
