A Milton Doyle three-pointer at the death has delivered Melbourne a thrilling 74-73 victory over the Wildcats at Perth Arena on Sunday to ensure United legend Chris Goulding celebrated his 500th NBL match in fitting style.
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After Perth kicked clear with 10 straight points in the third quarter to lead 52-41, Melbourne hit back with a 14-2 run, including seven consecutive points from Jesse Edwards, and 56 seconds into the final quarter they re-took the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the match.
The lead then changed hands another five times, before the Wildcats wrested back control and opened up a five-point lead with just 2:41 remaining.
However, the visitors refused to give in and with 30.5 seconds on the clock, Doyle came up big by draining a clutch sidestep contested three with a hand in his face.
The hosts had one last chance to win the game with 18 seconds left, but Kristian Doolittle’s three-point attempt, under pressure from Goulding and Doyle, missed its mark.
Tempers flared after the game between Doolittle and teammate Jo Lual-Acuil, who were engaged in a fiery argument. The pair had to be separated and Lual-Acuil ended up forcefully pushing away another teammate Dontae Russo-Nance.
The visitors out-rebounded Perth 50-41 and had a far superior free-throw percentage with 77 (24-31) compared to the Wildcats’ 61 (17-28).
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Doyle was the star for the winners with 24 points on 7-14 shooting (50 per cent), including 3-7 from three (43 per cent), and eight assists. His contested rainbow trey from very deep over Lual-Acuil for an incredible half-time buzzer-beater was a highlight.
Edwards was also crucial with 18 points on 6-9 shooting (67) and 17 rebounds, while Lual-Acuil was the Wildcats’ best with 24 points at a 10-17 clip (59) as well as 11 boards.
Perth made the first big move of the match with a dominant 17-2 run catapulting them to a 24-10 lead late in the first quarter. Lual-Acuil was unstoppable with 12 points in the opening period, including his team’s first seven.
But things changed dramatically in the second stanza as Melbourne counterpunched with a 15-2 run to level things up 27-27 midway through the quarter after Perth’s lively ball movement stagnated and the Wildcats gave the ball up with more frequency.
The contest became an arm wrestle from that point, with United ending with their noses in front.
Walker hurt
The win came at a cost for Melbourne with Tyson Walker suffering an accidental elbow to the head from Dolittle in the first quarter and leaving the court in a distressed state. He avoided a concussion, but after making a brief return to the game, he succumbed to what appeared to be a jaw injury.
Windler from deep
Late in the second quarter, Perth’s Dylan Windler knocked down a very deep three with the shot clock running out, and the basket was so impressive that it elicited a round of applause from Goulding.
Delany’s powerful jam
It didn’t all go Windler’s way in the second period as Melbourne’s Finn Delany charged the Wildcat at the rim and threw down an authoritative one-handed dunk to put the American on a poster.
United stay fourth
The result saw Melbourne maintain their grip on fourth spot on the ladder and served as their third win in a row. It also prevented the fifth-placed Wildcats from overtaking United and snapped Perth’s five-game winning streak.
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KINGS BLOW TITLE RACE OPEN AS EX-NBA RECRUIT STARS
Sydney has blown the race for the NBL minor premiership wide open to continue its dominance over Adelaide.
Despite holding a double-digit buffer for much of the contest, the Kings had to survive a late scare as the 36ers cut it back to seven inside the final 40 seconds.
But they managed to hold their nerve to close out a 106-101 victory and take the series against Adelaide 3-1 for the season.
The star of the show was new import Torrey Craig, shooting the lights out from the land of plenty with six triples on his way to a game-high 26 points.
Fresh off a career-high 40 points against Tasmania, Kendric Davis continued to push his MVP case with a monster showing of 20 points, 14 assists, five rebounds and four steals.
The current MVP favourite Bryce Cotton was kept under wraps by the Kings for the entire night, kept to a modest 17 points and five turnovers, not hitting a field goal until the fourth quarter.
Sydney remains a live chance to finish in the top-two, while Adelaide’s third loss from its past four outings leaves them now just one win clear at the top of the standings.
Double trouble
Sydney made its intentions clear from the opening whistle that they wanted to make life as difficult as possible for Cotton.
The five-time MVP was met with constant pressure and double teams which kept him scoreless through one term, but his class was still on display with four assists.
As the Kings struggled to shoot the ball early, the 36ers raced out to a 20-13 advantage, before the Kings found their rhythm to close the quarter out on a 9-0 run to take an unlikely lead at the first break.
Cotton’s attacking woes continued in the second quarter as he closed out the half with zero points on just two shots.
Finding range
While most of the attention was on the battle between Davis and Cotton, it was the league’s two newest imports that lit up the second quarter.
John Jenkins backed up his sharpshooting effort against New Zealand with a seven-point burst to start the term.
But not to be outdone, Torrey Craig exploded from long range, hitting all four of his attempts from beyond the arc to lead all scorers with 17 at the half.
Again Sydney was able to close the quarter out strongly, finishing with a 17-3 run as they held a commanding 59-46 halftime advantage.
Turned away
Jenkins maintained his hot streak and Isaac Humphries was getting what he wanted to cut the margin back to eight.
But with every small Adelaide surge, the Kings had all the answers as they maintained a double digit buffer for most of the term.
Even when DJ Vasiljevic knocked down his fourth three-pointer of the match to try and give them some momentum, Davis responded with an acrobatic lay-up to beat the buzzer and keep Sydney ahead by 14 heading into the final quarter.
Paint the town pink
Sydney traded the purple for pink in aid of a good cause for their annual Pink Hoops fixture to raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.
The Kings faithful got behind the cause, with a moving pregame tribute to late Sydney Flame Tiana Mangakahia.
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