Melbourne United won through to the NBL Championship Series in a remarkable 113-112 game three over Perth Wildcats that ended in controversy.
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It was a staggering shootout in which Kristian Doolittle (37 points, 10 rebounds) and Bryce Cotton (33 points) starred for the visitors, and Ian Clark (38 points) and Chris Goulding (30 points) were heroes for the hosts.
On the second last play of regulation, the Wildcats had three chances to tie the game up, with Doolittle and Cotton missing, but veteran Jesse Wagstaff’s experience shone through as he drained a game-tying three.
United had 2.6 seconds left to manufacture a score and they went inside to Goulding, who was fouled by Ben Henshall with 0.8 on the clock.
Goulding scored the first free throw before presumably deliberately missing his second to force the Wildcats into a full court heave and Dylan Windler’s shot went wide.
United has a chance to atone for last year’s Championship Series heartbreak against Tasmania JackJumpers.
Dean Vickerman’s team will go in search of their first title since 2021.
“One of the greatest games we’ve seen in NBL history,” Andrew Gaze proclaimed.
Melbourne will face either Illawarra or South East Melbourne in the Championship Series, with the Hawks hosting the Phoenix in their own deciding game three on Wednesday night.
“My daughter when I left this afternoon, she said ‘go win the game daddy’, so that was what was going through my mind then,” Goulding said post-game.
“I’m going to be excited to see her tomorrow morning.”
Doolittle had his fingerprints all over the ball for the Wildcats in a stellar 37-point, 10-rebound and five-assist game.
It was cruel to see Doolittle on the losing side of the ledger.
Cotton left his best performance for the last game of the series, scoring 33 points with five rebounds and six assists.
The question now is, will this be the last time we see Cotton in a Wildcats uniform?
You can bet John Rillie will move heaven and earth to keep the five-time NBL MVP.
The Wildcats picked up where they left off from game two on Saturday night, racing to a 37-26 quarter time lead.
After being kept relatively quiet in the first two games, the 32-year-old Cotton piled on 16 first quarter points, including three triples, and the signs were ominous.
Clark counterattack
United veteran Ian Clark went against the grain of the game and kept United in the contest.
Clark converted on four of his first five threes and hunted the ball with confidence.
The 33-year-old almost single handedly eroded what was a 14 point Wildcats lead.
CG43 explosion
Then United sharpshooter Chris Goulding entered the chat.
The 36-year-old converted on his first six three-point attempts to give United the lead for the first time and move past Wildcats legend Ricky Grace (145) on the all-time three-pointers made in finals list.
A couple of sloppy United plays saw the Wildcats go to half time with a 62-58 lead as Cotton and Clark led the way with 22 points apiece.
Jack White, who endured the yips from the free throw line at a crucial moment late in game two, was a non-factor with 0/4 from the field in the first half.
But United never lost faith in their forward, going straight to him after half-time, and he buried two threes and created a three-point play as part of a 12-point third quarter.
It got to the stage where every possession mattered.
A huge moment came when Goulding made a Superman-like dive to save the ball from going out and went up the other end to knock down a three.
The next play, Goulding hit another three, giving United a handy seven-point buffer.
The Wildcats never gave up, taking it to the very last second for United to salute for their home fans.
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