By Mark Halliday

Norwood Flames 79 | Southern Tigers 77

It went right down to the final seconds but the Norwood Flames defeated the Southern Tigers 79-77 in a back and forth battle and handed the Tigers their first loss of the season at Mars on Saturday night.

Norwood had the upper hand for most of the game over the Tigers, who were without star player Mitch Creek, leading at every break and looked in charge to take the win as they quickly raced out to a 10 point lead early in the third quarter.

All was looking up for the Flames, Andrew Webber's (12 points, 10 assists) corner three had the home side up by 10 and shortly after Tiger's big man Jordan Dodman (11 points, 7 rebounds) headed to the bench with his fourth foul.

The last time these two teams met, Norwood was without Jacob Holmes and the Tigers without Alex Starling. It was Starling (29 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks) who wasn't letting the game get away for Southern as he scored 10 points in the quarter and gave his team momentum heading into the final quarter.

The Flames once again raced out to an 11 point lead on a Ben Howell (8 points, 3 rebounds) triple with only two minutes played in the fourth.

However, the Tigers had other ideas and the big lead was erased. Todd Davies (8 points) connected on a pair of threes, Dodman converted from in close, Starling drew fouls while being aggressive in the post and Codey Ellison (13 points, 9 rebounds) nailed an open three and then put back a miss to have the Tigers trailing by one with 4:05 remaining.

Both teams traded baskets as the importance of each shot increased as time ticked down. Southern drew level at 72 as Dodman completed a three point play shortly before he picked up his fifth foul with 1:44 left.

Matt Lycett (26 points, 10 rebounds), who was everywhere in the first three quarters, made a pair of free throws to retake the lead for Norwood.

Starling, always active on the offensive boards put back a miss to equalise and then Daniel Peacock (11 points, 6 rebounds) gave Southern a one point lead after hitting one of two free throws.

With 27 left, Andrew Webber was covered at the top of the arc but managed to fire up a three and found the net to give Norwood the lead once more.

Davies air-balled a deep three with 9 seconds left but Peacock was in the right place at the right time to grab the miss and lay it in and level the score at 77.

Webber had the ball in his hands again, dribbled around the top before driving towards the basket and drawing a foul. He converted both to give the Flames a two point lead with 3 seconds left.

Davies heaved up another long three at the end of regulation but it was off the mark as the Flames celebrated a tough victory.

Round 12: Saturday, 4 June at 8.15pm

Southern Tigers v North Adelaide Rockets @ Morphett Vale

Norwood Flames v South Adelaide Panthers @ Marion