United veterans deliver win again in Perth

Jack White was a man on a mission as he helped Melbourne United continue their love affair with RAC Arena with a return to form as they snapped the Perth Wildcats winning streak with the 99-93 win.

Melbourne did open up a 13-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter with Ian Clark (16 points, 8/15 shooting) rediscovering some form, but Perth closed to within one with two minutes to go.

Matthew Dellavedova (17 points, seven assists) showed all his class and experience with two strong makes, including one that became an and-one, and United won by six for 10 of the last 11 against Perth at RAC Arena.

White was a man possessed much of the night finishing with 26 points and 16 rebounds in a fascinating match up with Kristian Doolittle who had a career-best 33 points, seven boards and four assists for Perth.

"It was a big milestone game for Bryce (Cotton) and we knew there was going to be a lot of juice in the building, not to mention the stage of the season we're at and how we're all competing for those top spots," White said.

"Those are the types of games that you want to be in and you enjoy the most, and fortunately for us we were able to get the job done."

The Wildcats were on a five-game winning run having returned home last Friday beating Adelaide, but United quickly felt right back at home out west.

White was aggressive and went into half-time with 14 points and eight rebounds to his name including a string of and-ones just before half-time, but Doolittle kept the Wildcats in touch.

Cotton had just five points on 2/6 going into the half in his 250th NBL game, but Doolittle's 16 points kept Melbourne's lead to 46-43 at the break.

It did get tight late, but United's experience came to the fore as they ended up with 14 more rebounds than Perth including 13 offensive rebounds for 13 second chance points along with taking 25 foul shots to Perth's 13.

United return to third spot at 16-10 with three matches to go, and while White was brilliant, the return to form of Clark was crucial after just 5.5 points the last six games.

Chris Goulding also had 16 points while Shea Ili had six points, four rebounds and three assists, but his defence was brilliant limiting Cotton to 14 points on 5/17 shooting.

The Wildcats slip to 15-10 in fourth spot with Keanu Pinder contributing 10 points and seven rebounds, Ben Henshall eight points, five boards and three assists, and David Okwera eight points with 2/3 from deep.

"Although we're disappointed in the result, we had moments, even at the end with how poorly we started the fourth quarter, to potentially win it," Wildcats coach John Rillie said.

"I'm certainly not going to overlook and over-assess how we're playing as a group. We get to come back Saturday night and get after it again.

"But I felt it was important for our young guys to really understand and feel it. That was playoff basketball tonight, so for us to go through the remainder of the regular season and for those guys to live in those moments is only going to be beneficial."

It was a good venue for United to return to as they attempted to rediscover some form and they did start well with a 9-4 opening including a three-pointer to Jack White.

Chris Goulding then also landed one from deep before the struggling Ian Clark tried to find some touch with a couple of floaters and Melbourne were leading 21-13.

Perth responded with the last 10 points of the opening period starting with a three from Kristian Doolittle and finishing with another from Bryce Cotton to give the 'Cats the 23-21 edge after one.

Melbourne gradually worked on top during the second quarter with their ability to grab 20 defensive rebounds from a Perth team struggling shooting key to their offence slowly but surely finding some groove.

When White completed back-to-back three-point plays on strong moves down low, Melbourne had the momentum and the lead was out to six when Goulding knocked down his second triple.

But Perth stayed close enough and cut Melbourne's lead to 46-43 at the half on the back of a triple on the buzzer from 497-game captain Jesse Wagstaff.

The 'Cats had done well to be so close given they shot just 42 per cent, were outrebounded by nine and Cotton had just five points, but United shot 56 per cent.

It was the Wildcats young guns that shot them into the lead again early in the second half with David Okwera starting the three-point barrage before Ben Henshall hit two on back-to-back possessions.

Clark responded with two quick buckets for Melbourne before White and Okwera traded three balls, and by three quarter-time it was United clinging to the three-point advantage.

White lifted Melbourne with another powerful dunk to open the fourth to make it a five-point margin before Matthew Dellavedova stretched it to eight with a three ball.

Three consecutive buckets to Clark soon had Melbourne's lead 13 but the Wildcats weren’t done with yet and suddenly with two minutes to go, it was a one-point ball game with Elijah Pepper hitting a huge three.

Dellavedova answered with a tough and-one to put United back up four, he hit another tough shot in the paint soon after and Melbourne sealed the deal from there.

The Wildcats remain at home to play host to the bottom placed Cairns Taipans on Saturday night while United play their seventh and last road game in this stretch up against the Brisbane Bullets on Sunday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

PERTH WILDCATS 93 (Doolittle 33, Cotton 14, Pinder 10)

MELBOURNE UNITED 99 (White 26, Dellavedova 17, Goulding 16, Clark 16)

BOX SCORE