Basketball On The Internet.

SATURDAY night might be alright for fightin' but Sat arvo certainly isn't if you're the Illawarra Squawks, Angus Glover led South East to a near rampage over Adelaide while in WNBL action yesterday, a depleted Geelong Venom stung Southside, and Perth's Teonni Key left Lightning gasping.

The Bullets shot down every Illawarra challenge, had the game seemingly won with a 20-point halftime lead, then weathered a gritty fightback led by genuine Hawkheads Dan Grida, Tyler Harvey, Johnny Narkle, Todd Blanchfield and Sam Froling, with Makur Maker also chipping in.

Blanchfield with a huge 3-pointer and a bonus free throw, had the margin back to three at 56-59 where it hovered until Bullets Raul Neto (11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, 4 boards, 4 assists) and Nate Hinton (21 points at 50 per cent, 6 assists) buffered it back out.

Once that effort petered out, Brisbane again had the match back on its own terms, Archie Woodhill with a career-best 10 points in a solid road win, further consigning Illawarra to this season's scrapheap.

Adelaide rolled into Melbourne full of confidence, only to have it immediately shattered by South East Melbourne.

The Phoenix unleashed a long range missile assault, the like of which the NBL rarely has seen.

Their 42-point first quarter set a new club record for the most points South East has scored in a quarter - any quarter - since the club was founded!

Angus Glover (20 points, 6-of-8 threes) was in sizzling touch but D'Shawsn Schwartz (20 points at 64 per cent, 3-of-6 threes), Dash Daniels (18 points at 60 per cent, 3-of-7 threes), Nathan Sobey (13 points at 50 per cent, 2 threes), Tanner Krebs (2-of-3 threes) led the aerial assault and by halftime, the Phoenix compiled 72 points for a 29-point lead and this thing was put to bed already.

Thankfully for 36ers fans, Bryce Cotton is a restless sleeper. On his way to a round-high 37 points (with 8 assists), the little master led a third quarter comeback which began to grow more serious the further the period went.

A 29-14 turnaround by Adelaide was unexpected but with Zylan Cheatham (21 points at 67 per cent, 9-of-9 free throws, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and a block) bringing additional aggression and Nick Rakocevic (18 points, 17 rebounds) managing to keep his temper under control - except for a few typical moments of madness - this became a contest.

When Cotton and Cheatham conspired for the final quarter's first six points, Adelaide had this back to 78-86, sphincters tightening all across John Cain Arena.

Yannis Morin pushed it back out to 88-78 and in what arguably was the biggest moment in the game, the 36ers found import shooter John Jenkins wide open on the wing.

He sinks the three and the score is 81-88 and who knows what might follow? But, sadly now almost typically, Jenkins (2 points on 1-of-5 shooting) missed. Glover swished a triple, then Daniels another and South East had it back to 94-78 and Adelaide was cooked.

Down its starting backcourt of Maddi Rocci and Bec Cole, Geelong staged a mesmerising WNBL home win over Southside, the "Han Xu effect" immediately in effect.

Xu (16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks) was put to good use by the Venom, Southside's kids battling the 211cm international star gamely and Carley Ernst doing her best.

But when the Venom uncorked a 34-19 second period, Indiah Bowyer (17 points), Lily Rotunno (10 points) and Alex Sharp (14 points, 13 boards) leading the attack, the Flyers had few answers.

Hannah Hank (16 points, 8 boards, 3 assists) and Tess Heal (14 points, 3 assists) held the fort but with Sakima Walker restricted by foul woes, Southside could do little more than threaten in the final period, without ever looking like bringing off the upset.

In Adelaide, Perth pivot Teonni Key (22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block) set the tone early as the Lynx ran away from Lightning to lead 26-17 after one.

Steph Talbot, Tayla Brazel and Zitina Aokuso led a tremendous fightback which saw Adelaide seize the lead, guard Shay Ciezki blocking shots by Anneli Maley on the break.

Maley's return for Perth was in equal parts good and bad. She shot the ball with zero conscience, her 21 points on a dreadful 5-of-17 shooting, with 10-of-11 free throws her points bail-out.

It kept the door ajar for Adelaide but  it simply did not have sufficient weapons to help Talbot, who finished on triple-double watch with 19 points, 8 boards and 8 assists.

NBL Results Round 6, Saturday

Brisbane Bullets 98 (Hinton 21, Mackinnon, Harrison 14, Neto 11, Woodhill, Mayen 10; Harrison 8 rebs; Hinton 6 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 81 (Blanchfield 19, Froling 14, Harvey 12; Maker, Froling 6 rebs; Doyle, Harvey 4 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong.

South East Melbourne Phoenix 108 (Schwartz, Glover 20, Daniels 18, Sobey 13; Morin 8 rebs; Sobey 6 assts) d Adelaide 36ers 94 (Cotton 37, Cheatham 21, Rakocevic 18; Rakocevic 17 rebs; Cotton 8 assts) at John Cain Arena, Melbourne.

WNBL Results Round 2, Saturday

Geelong Venom 74 (Bowyer 17, Xu 16, Sharp 14, Rotunno 10; Sharp 13 rebs; Rotunno 4 assts) d Southside Melbourne Flyers 69 (Hank 16, Heal 14, Siyu 11; Walker 8 rebs; Walker, Hank, Heal 3 assts) at Geelong Arena.

Perth Lynx 90 (Key 22, Maley 21, Peters 17, Amoore 12; Maley 14 rebs; Amoore 9 assts) d Adelaide Lightning 82 (Aokuso 20, Talbot 19, Brazel 15, Westbeld 14; Westbeld 12 rebs; Talbot 8 assts) at State Basketball Centre, Adelaide.