Wildcats finish successful road stint with big win over Bullets

The Wildcats, who trailed by as much as eight in the first term, outscored the wounded Bullets 38-15 in the second on the way to completing a seven-game road stint with an impressive 6-1 record.

The Wildcats 23-point differential 23 points was the biggest in any quarter in NBL25.

Superstar Bryce Cotton led the way with a game-high 36 points - including five of seven from long-range - five rebounds, three assists and two steals, but he had plenty of contributors around him.

Fellow import Dylan Windler was his consistent self at both ends of the floor, finishing with 16 points to go with six rebounds, three steals and three blocks.

In his 50th game as a Wildcat, big man Keanu Pinder continued to build form with a 19-point, six-rebound performance coming off the bench.

After 14 minutes in his return from a groin injury on Sunday, Kristian Doolittle increased that to nearly 18 for seven points and four assists in an important step forward.

Captain Jesse Wagstaff and young gun Elijah Pepper were also among those to have an impact during their time on the floor.

Despite their staggering injury-list, the Bullets came out hard and led for the majority of the opening term with Josh Bannan and former Wildcat Casey Prather prominent.

There were signs that Cotton was starting to heat up late in the first term as he went into quarter-time with back-to-back buckets to tie things up at 27 points apiece.

Cotton started the second like he finished the first, driving the basket for a layup to move up to eight points.

Pepper then followed Cotton’s lead before the four-time NBL MVP dropped a massive triple as the Wildcats went on a 15-0 run to turn the game on its head.

The Wildcat knocked back their first eight three-point attempts of the game, including two each to Cotton, Pinder and Windler.

It was showtime late in the first half with Next Star Izan Almansa producing a massive slam after a perfect pass from Cotton.

Cotton was up to a game-high 18 points, joining Pinder (15) and Windler (12) in double digits as Perth took a strong 65-42 buffer into the main break.

Brisbane bounced back in the third, cutting the deficit in half with a few minutes remaining in the term.

But the Wildcats steadied before the break, scoring 13 of the last 15 points to lead 85-66 with a quarter to play.

It was all smooth sailing in the last as the third-placed Wildcats moved to 13-9 ahead of their first home game in six weeks against Adelaide 36ers in Friday night’s Open Air clash at RAC Arena.

All 12 Wildcats got on court, with 11 of those getting on the box score including DP Dontae Russo-Nance who scored the final bucket with eight seconds remaining.