Townsville inflicted Adelaide's first home loss of the season with a thrilling 110-107 victory in their NBL game at the Distinctive Homes Dome.

Townsville led for most of the match but the upset win was only secured when Robert Rose hit a pair of foul shots with just six seconds remaining.

Crocodiles coach Ian Stacker was delighted with his side's win but disappointed with the officiating and may find himself in hot water with the NBL after aggressively waving his fist at referee Carolyn Tsakalos during his post-match celebration.

Adelaide were all at sea in the first quarter and clearly missed the offensive power of captain Brett Maher, who was sidelined by a calf strain.

Willie Farley ignited the Sixers in the second quarter as the home side clawed back to briefly hold a one point lead, but a pair of late baskets from Rose gave the Crocs a 57-49 buffer at the main break.

Farley played a lone hand for Adelaide in the third quarter, putting on a shooting clinic and piling on 18 points.

A huge three pointer from Farley brought the Sixers within a shot, trailing 87-84 at the final break to set up a tense final quarter.

Townsville pulled away to lead by eight before more Farley brilliance left the scores tied with just two minutes remaining.

Sixers' Jacob Holmes missed two crucial foul shots with 8.9 seconds to play, before Rose kept his cool from the foul line to give the Crocs a thrilling road win.

Stacker's anger at the referees was evident throughout the match and the Crocs coach selected his words carefully after the game.

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