United Hit Back in The Jungle

Melbourne United withstood a classic Bryce Cotton performance to bounce back in the best possible way from Sunday's horror show to continue their love affair with RAC Arena, beating the Perth Wildcats 84-81.

United looked in trouble last round as they were thrashed by the Sydney Kings in Melbourne including giving up 25 straight points at one point and trailing by as much as 38, and then they had to make the trip to The Jungle.

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Not only that but the Wildcats came into the game undefeated so far this season under new coach John Rillie, but it's a building that continues to hold no fears for Melbourne. 

Remarkably in a venue traditionally the toughest to win in for opposition teams, United have now won seven straight at RAC Arena and this is one they won't soon forget just five days after what happened at John Cain Arena.

United re-emerged in Perth with a desperation mindset and perhaps the most exciting sign in the performance was what former NBA centre Isaac Humphries delivered. He finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, but that only partly tells the influence he had on the win.

In both Melbourne's wins now this season, Xavier Rathan-Mayes (17 points, 11 rebounds, five assists) has come up huge while Chris Goulding (16 points) and Rayjon Tucker (14 points, eight rebounds) joined him in creating an effective back court.

United coach Dean Vickerman said the win was exactly the response he wanted from his players.

"That is who we are and who we have been as a club this last four or five years - if we have been poor we have come out and responded the right way," Vickerman said.

"I thought you saw that at the start the way we locked in and created a good lead. It got tough, it got tight and we got down towards the end. 

"Different people had their moments. Isaac became a target for us by putting himself in the right spots. We didn’t do the job we wanted to do on Bryce but X was really good in the last three minutes.

"That was a team-building win and we needed that as a group. Tonight, we got down and we locked in at the defensive end and this will bring the group together a little more."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">TURN IT ON RAYJON ???<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MelbUnited</a> import was putting on a show late in the third quarter ?<br><br>Catch the final quarter of this ripper <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> contest live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/S4lsbAgKlj">pic.twitter.com/S4lsbAgKlj</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1580890883826003968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cotton had 22 of his game-high 32 points in the first half but didn’t have enough support beyond 12 points, six rebounds and eight assists from Luke Travers.

Wildcats coach John Rillie said his side had to start games better.

"What I like is we have great fight and character but we have to address how we start games," Rillie said.

"I will watch the start of all of our games to see if one thing sticks out - if we address our starts that will fix a lot of problems."

Rillie also defended Wagstaff and dismissed suggestions his captain could face the tribunal because Barker was concussed.

"We are playing basketball and that [setting a screen] is a common play," Rillie said.

"I really hope he is OK but to talk about a tribunal - that is a little anxious."

United fired out of the blocks scoring the first seven points then riding the hot hand of Xavier Rathan-Mayes who nailed two threes as the visitors led 18-10.

But Brady Manek was a presence at the defensive end and from outside then Cotton found his range finishing the quarter on a tear scoring 15 points as United led 24-19 at quarter-time.

Cotton continued to trouble United as a three from Luke Travers tied the scores.

United lost guard Lachie Barker to a suspected concussion when he ran blindly into a legal screen from 'Cats captain Jesse Wagstaff and needed to be helped from the court while United held onto a 42-40 lead at half-time.

The two clubs traded baskets for much of the third quarter with Rayjon Tucker pulling off a highlight block when Cotton looked to have been clear to the basket but he was not perturbed and finished the third quarter with a lay-up on the buzzer to cut the visitor’s lead to 64-60. 

United again broke out to a seven-point lead early in the last and Cotton threw a scare into the home crowd as he appeared to tweak his ankle. He remained on the court and combined with Travers to cut that lead to a point before Wagstaff rolled to the hoop and laid up to put them ahead with five minutes to go.

Travers put Perth ahead with three minutes to play but two crucial blocks from Humphries and a pull-up jumper from Chris Goulding tied the scores at 81-81 with 90 seconds to play.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BRYCE COTTON. AND-ONE. RIDICULOUS. <br><br>Don&#39;t sleep on the Luke Travers dish either - that&#39;s his 8th assist ?<br><br>You don&#39;t want to miss the last few minutes of this one. Tune into ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel for some top tier <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action. <a href="https://t.co/yzUYyhbG9b">pic.twitter.com/yzUYyhbG9b</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1580893754579648512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Two free throws from Tucker put United up 83-81 with a minute to go and Cotton missed one of his iconic step back threes with 14 seconds to play.

Humpries extended the lead to three points and Corey Webster missed a late contested three to see Melbourne to the win.

United head straight back home to play host to the Tasmania JackJumpers on Sunday afternoon while the Wildcats don't play again until next Saturday also against the JackJumpers in Hobart.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 3

PERTH WILDCATS 81 (Cotton 32, Webster 12, Travers 12)

MELBOURNE UNITED 84 (Humphries 17, Rathan-Mayes 17, Goulding 16)

BOX SCORE