Perth Wildcats champion Bryce Cotton is showing no signs of slowing down.
The four-time league MVP caught fire from beyond the three-point line dropping eight shots from long range in the Wildcats 106-98 win over South East Melbourne in game 2 of Hoops Fest in Perth.
The entire Phoenix side managed just 10 three-pointers. Perth dropped 19.
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Cotton’s best return from long range last season was ‘just’ seven, also hit against South East Melbourne, on his way to 34 points.
He managed 26 points on Friday night, topped only by teammate Keanu Pinder’s 29.
The Wildcats carried impressive form into round 1, unbeaten in eight games in the pre-season, including in the Blitz and games in Japan.
Not the road again
So, the Phoenix start the new season with a loss on the road, something that was an all too familiar story last season.
They had a 3-11 record away from home.
They were smashed by injury in the second half of last season, and averaged just 80 points per games in the second half of the season.
Their tally of 98 against Perth was a bit flattering. They were 18 down late in the game, but went on a 15-5 run in the last three minutes to even the scoreline a little.
Jordan Hunter led that scoring with 19 points and five of his teammates made it to double figures. Matt Hunt produced a double-double, with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
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Big Cats night out
Perth looked like they had the game in hand early, but the Phoenix managed to pull back a nine-point half-time margin to be just one point, in less than four minutes into the second half.
Then Keanu Pinder took over.
He rolled off 10 consecutive points in just over a minute, blow the margin back to double figures.
He ended up outscoring Phoenix 14-4 over the space of three minutes to give the Cats control.
Kristian Doolittle was enormous on the boards, with 13 rebounds. He was one point away from also recording a double-double.
Cotton provided early spark
Cotton was used sparingly in those Blitz games and in Japan, although two of his appearances netted better than 30 points.
On Friday night, he turned the game in just 50 seconds.
With scores locked at 10 apiece, Cotton lit the game up with three successful long bombs in less than a minute.
The Cats led by seven points and dragged that out to 12 at the opening break.
Perth went 6-13 from beyond the three-point line in the first term, compared to Phoenix’s 1-8.
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