The Perth Wildcats have soared to the top of the NBL on the back of a record-breaking shooting performance from Jermaine Beal in his team's 113-83 win over Melbourne United at Perth Arena on Thursday night.
Beal had a scoreless first quarter but came to life in the second.
By the time he checked out with a minute and a half left, he had a Wildcats record 10 three-pointers and NBL season-high of 40 points.
He was simply unstoppable and was enjoying himself in the second half, best illustrated by a three he took and hit metres out from the arc. The next play he pulled up from way out deep which he also nailed.
Not only did he set some records but led the Wildcats to a 30-point victory that sees them replace Melbourne on top of the NBL ladder.
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Beal was unquestionably the star with 40 points made up of 18 in the second quarter, 15 in the third and seven in the fourth. He shot 10-of-19 from deep with seven assists capping the all-round game.
"It was just one of those games where I hit one, then hit two and all of a sudden I just started feeling good. I started to come down and just let them fly," Beal said.
"Sometimes you get in one of those moments where you are just out there having fun. My teammates really looked for me and got me open, and I made some shots.
"I hit a couple and I heard the fans going 'ohhh' every time I made one so I tried to keep shooting it so I could get the fans more involved."
Fellow import Casey Prather added 20 points, six rebounds and four assists for the 'Cats with Matt Knight finishing with 14 points and nine boards before going off with a sore shoulder. Tom Jervis contributed 11 points.
Daniel Kickert hit 23 points including five threes for Melbourne while Hakim Warrick had 15 points, Stephen Holt 15 and Chris Goulding 13, but eight of his points came in the opening six minutes.
Melbourne coach Dean Demopoulos pulled no punches after his team's fifth loss in the last seven games after a 9-0 start.
"We didn’t stand up and make a fist against a rough, tough group and that's what happens. There are no positives. We got our a*** kicked tonight and we don’t change very much, we go back to do what we've been doing and try to do it better," Demopoulos said.
"We didn’t defend well and we turned the ball over. You could play any team and the outcome's not going to be very good when you do those two things because you are giving them extra possessions by allowing them to go to the offensive boards and turning you over."
Melbourne started well and had a 9-0 run early to lead 14-6. They were still up 21-15 after one but once Beal caught fire early in the second Perth put the game out of reach.
A buzzer-beater on half-time saw the Wildcats lead by 16 at the break and they were never threatened in the second half ending up winning by 30.
The Wildcats back up on Sunday against the Sydney Kings in the last ever game at the Kingdome. Melbourne's next opponent is also Sydney on Wednesday at Hisense Arena.
PERTH WILDCATS 113 (Beal 40, Prather 20, Knight 14)
MELBOURNE UNITED 83 (Kickert 23, Warrick 15, Holt 15)
BOX SCORE
