Three-point shooting costly in last second loss to Breakers

Perth Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson has admitted his team's struggles from the three-point time were costly in Saturday’s loss to the NZ Breakers.

It was a nail-biting contest, with both teams making clutch plays down the stretch, but it was the Breakers who were able to finish the game on top after a Levi Randolph bucket gave the Wildcats just 0.5 seconds to reply.

Perth took 12 three-point attempts, a season-low, from which they hit just one.

“We had our chances, we were five points up with three minutes to go,” said Trevor Gleeson.

“We played hard, but when you shoot 10 per cent from the three-point line you’re not going to win too many games and we certainly were in it.”

Gleeson said it wasn’t a pre-game decision to reduce the number of attempts from long-range.

“We play what’s in front of us, there was a lot of action going towards the rim. We weren’t making them (three-pointers), so we had to find scoring elsewhere.”

Todd Blanchfield was able to provide 21 points, while John Mooney had 25 to go with nine rebounds.

Bryce Cotton had 19 while impacting the game in other areas, including an emphatic block.

The Perth Wildcats now travel from Launceston to Melbourne ahead of a Wednesday night top-of-the-ladder clash with United.

Perth Wildcats 84 (Mooney 25, Blanchfield 21, Cotton 19)

NZ Breakers 86 (Randolph 19, Abercrombie 14, T Webster 12)