Cotton, Webster star as Wildcats make it four in a row

Cotton dropped a team-high 34 points, including 26 in the first half, while Webster chipped in with 19 to go with four assists as the Wildcats celebrated their first home game in nearly a month with an emphatic victory.

With Keanu Pinder in early foul trouble, youngster David Okwera got some extended minutes and made the most of his opportunity, reeling in the boards at both ends of the floor on the way to six for the match.

With his father Charles at RAC Arena for the first time, Cotton looked on from the get-go on the way to a dozen first-quarter points.

Cotton hit two triples before quarter-time to give his team a 28-19 advantage and continued his hot form after the break with back-to-back buckets.

Hyrum Harris’ defensive efforts were outstanding as usual, drawing a charge on Alan Williams.

His namesake Michael Harris also had an impact, drawing an offensive foul at one end before hitting a triple straight after at the other.

Cotton was up to a remarkable 26 points by half-time with Perth up 56-39.

The Phoenix came back hard to start the third term, going on a 9-0 run to cut the margin back to eight.

Mitch Creek (36 points and seven rebounds) was keeping the visitors in it as the deficit was halved once again to four before Cotton’s sixth three-pointer halted the momentum.

Leading 70-61 at the final change, Perth made sure there was no final-quarter comeback from South East Melbourne, putting the game to bed with a few minutes to go before bringing in Ben Henshall, Kyle Zunic returning veteran Corey Webster and Development Player Jack Andrew off the bench.

Zunic brought up the Wildcats’ century with a layup in the last couple of minutes.

The Wildcats are back in action at RAC Arena on Friday night, hosting Brisbane to kick off the NBL's second annual Pride Round.