Hungry Jack's NBL
Cotton delivers Wildcats comeback win
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By Chris Pike for NBL.com.au
Bryce Cotton is the ultimate NBL competitor and those instincts are there for the Blitz as the four-time MVP brought the Perth Wildcats back from the brink in a come-from-behind 108-102 Sunday win over the New Zealand Breakers.
It's a decidedly new-look Breakers team coming into NBL25 with a new coach, Petteri Koponen, and with only Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Dane Pineau hitting the floor who had been part of last season.
They were right on track for a first up win on the Gold Coast too leading by 14 points early in the fourth quarter with Parker Jackson-Cartwright starring on his way to 21 points, five rebounds and four steals on 8/14 shooting.
However, the Wildcats wouldn’t be denied and despite coach John Rillie being ejected for a second tech foul, Cotton took over the contest.
He found Next Star Izan Almansa for an inside finish and then Keanu Pinder drained a three ball to make it a three-point ball game with three minutes to play.
Cotton then finished three times in transition including directly after stealing the ball from Jackson-Cartwright to put the 'Cats in front and they ended up closing the game scoring 26 of the last 37 points.
After trailing by 11 with five minutes to go, Perth went on a 20-3 scoring run with the four-time MVP Cotton putting up 32 points with 13/15 free-throw shooting.
Keanu Pinder was imposing too with 25 points and eight rebounds with Ben Henshall adding 10 points, Next Star Izan Almansa 10 points and two assists, and new import Dylan Windler nine points and three rebounds.
New Zealand will be disappointed with how they closed the game, but it was a significant improvement on their first pre-season hit out in a 44-point loss to the Sydney Kings.
The back court combination of Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Mitch McCarron looked like it will work tremendously, and McCarron ended up with 17 points.
Former Next Star Mojave King also had 12 points and three rebounds with Sam Mennenga providing 10 points and two assists, and Grant Anticevic 10 points and two rebounds.
The Wildcats are next in action on Tuesday night against the Illawarra Hawks while the Breakers are first up on Wednesday against the Adelaide 36ers.
HUNGRY JACK'S NBL BLITZ
PERTH WILDCATS 108 (Cotton 32, Pinder 25, Henshall 10)
NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 102 (Jackson-Cartwright 21, McCarron 17, King 14)
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