Cotton sparks comeback win in Cairns

When Bryce Cotton is in the building, the tide can turn at any moment in any NBL game and we saw that in the Perth Wildcats 84-78 win over the Cairns Taipans on New Year’s Eve.

The Taipans were outstanding to begin the contest and Perth found themselves down by18 points at one stage early on.

After going into quarter time scoreless, Cotton put on a masterclass in the second quarter, piling on 19 points – his most in a single quarter since scoring the same amount in March 2018.

It led to a season-high 33-point quarter for Perth and built the platform for the comeback.

“He showed great leadership, Bryce, and Jesse on the bench, in that first half just got the guys huddled up and got them refocused and showed great leadership on the court and on the bench," said coach Scott Morrison.

“His shooting kept us in the game, otherwise it could have been quick night.”

Cotton said his scoring outburst was a result of his team refocusing on the game plan.

“I play the same way every game, whether I’m making shots or missing, I take what the defence gives me, but it was a collective effort,” he said.

“I had some spurts where I made some good plays, but Fraz did a hell of a job on the defensive end getting some great steals, Jook, Jesse. We all  played our part and I think that’s a good learning lesson for us.

“It shows what we can do collectively when we all play are parts, we just need to do better just not playing in spurts.”

The Wildcats took the lead at three quarter time and would hold onto it till the final buzzer.

Cotton finished with 29 points and six assists while Vic Law had 17 and six rebounds.

Luke Travers had 10 points, five rebounds, four steals and four blocks – a statline that hasn’t been achieved by a Wildcat since David Van Dyke in 1997.

Majok Majok led the team with eight rebounds.

The game also saw the returns of vice-captain Mitch Norton and centre Matt Hodgson, who both got through the game with minuets restrictions.

The Wildcats are next in action next Friday against the Adelaide 36ers.

They’ll be based in Hobart between games.

Perth Wildcats 84 (Cotton 29, Law, 17, Travers 10)
Cairns Taipans 78 (Deng 27, Kuol 13, Zimmerman 12)