The Perth Wildcats were just five minutes away from recording their biggest weekend of the year.<\/p>\n
After defeating Melbourne United on Thursday, Perth led 90-74 with 5.10 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, and seemed destined to record victory over the NBL’s top two sides in a matter of days.<\/p>\n
But Bryce Cotton and his 36ers had different ideas.<\/p>\n
The visitors scored 21 of the last 25 points, including a late driving lay-up by Flynn Cameron to secure the memorable win.<\/p>\n
“Whoever’s writing the script for this is probably loving what they’re seeing,” Wildcats coach John Rillie said in the post-game press conference.<\/p>\n
Rillie went on to discuss exactly where it all went wrong for the hosts down the stretch.<\/p>\n
“I just felt like we got bogged down a little bit versus just playing with pace, momentum, and just taking what they gave us,\u201d Rillie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got just like too much middle ball and waited for the clock to run down, versus playing with a nice pace as we did for the first 30 to 35 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u200d\u201dWe’re evolving in that area [offence] because for the last nine years, this club’s known what’s going on in that point of the game [with Bryce Cotton at the helm].<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I like the way it could be a number of guys [for us now on offence].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Despite the loss, Rillie has taken plenty of positives away from the result and the weekend\u2019s performances.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I don’t want to get lost in this is in the space of four days, we played the top two teams,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough we’re not there yet, we\u2019re knocking on the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cI talked to the team about life, let alone basketball life, has moments where you get tested, and this is going to be a moment where we can learn and move forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m very comfortable and confident that will happen because this team has shown great resolve as we’re moving through the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou live and learn, and you move on, and I look forward to the next time we’re in this situation and how we handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wildcats, who are 9-7 on the season, next host Sydney on Friday night from 9.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.<\/p>\n
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