Bullets beat Adelaide 155-107
The looming birth of his third child proved no distraction for Ebi Ere who produced the daddy of all games to guide the Bullets to a 155-107 NBL victory over a hapless Adelaide at Brisbane.
US import Ere would have been forgiven for not having his mind on basketball as his wife Tia prepared to be induced in his hometown in Oklahoma.
But it was business as usual for the Bullets forward who again stamped his NBL MVP claimed by racking up a personal best 51 points - 20 alone in the second quarter.
It helped Brisbane to their third straight win to stay in sight of the all-important second spot.
Ere hit 10 from 16 from three point range to eclipse his previous best haul of 45 against South Dragons on January 5 and have the 3,467-strong crowd on their feet chanting "MVP, MVP" by the fourth quarter.
The mind boggles what stats he could have racked up if he was not benched with 8min 16sec left in the final quarter.
But Ere will have little time to savour yet another dominant performance - he will fly out on Sunday for more important business in the US when he joins his expectant wife.
He will miss Brisbane's next game against Perth but will return in time to have the Bullets firing for their all important January 30 showdown with Melbourne - a match that may well determine who grabs second spot overall and a first round playoff bye.
Brisbane moved to 17-7 for the season to breathe down the neck of the second-placed Melbourne (17-6).
It was the third straight loss for Adelaide (10-14) in four days in another blow to their playoff hopes.
Adelaide were still smarting from the 115-108 loss to the Hawks at Wollongong when veteran Lanard Copeland was ejected in the third quarter in a major turning point.
Copeland was officially cited by the NBL on a charge of "adopting a threatening attitude to an official".
He has until 5pm (AEDT) Monday to respond to the charges.
Both sides traded baskets before Brisbane kicked away 40-35 at the first break.
Ere exploded in the second term to ensure the Bullets were firing 78-62 by halftime.
It was all over by the final break when Brisbane led 115-85.
The only concern for Bullets coach Joey Wright was a right ankle injury to Boomers guard CJ Bruton.
The points total was the second-highest ever by the Bullets, but well behind the 170 racked up against the Hawks in 1989.
Ere became only the third Bullet to smash the 50-point barrier behind Leroy Loggins and Shane Heal.
Wright seemed to be pinching himself after Ere's display.
"51 points in 32 minutes is huge," he said.
Ere had joked before the game that he would drop 50 points as a parting gift to the team.
"They said 'you better do something before you leave' and I was like yeah I'll get 50 before I leave - then I started thinking 'hey this could become a reality'," he laughed.
"I was definitely in the zone."
Ere said he had only scored more points in junior college in the US.
Adelaide now needs to win four of their last six games to stay alive in the finals.
"We are running out of time and running out of players," coach Phil Smyth said.
Apart from Boomers guard Brett Maher (calf, two weeks return), import Julius Hodge (ankle) looks set to miss next Wednesday's clash against Melbourne at Adelaide.
"We got a lesson tonight against the team that's probably the hottest in the league right now," Smyth said.
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