Wildcats suffer heartbreaking loss to Cairns in double overtime

It was a see-sawing contest full of twists and turns, with the Wildcats producing a dominant 35-17 third quarter to turn a nine-point half-time deficit into a nine-point lead by the final change. 

But the Taipans went on a 9-0 run in the last quarter on their way to sending the game into overtime.

Cairns were out of the blocks quickly in both overtime periods, with the Wildcats levelling the first thanks to back-to-back triples from Bryce Cotton.

They couldn’t repeat it in the second overtime as Cairns, fresh off a win over ladder leaders Illawarra, continuing their good late-season form.

Four-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton did Bryce Cotton things on the way to a game-high 38 points to go with eight rebounds and three assists.

Big man Keanu Pinder was enormous off the bench with a 29-point, 11-rebound double-double to go with a game-high three blocks, while young gun Ben Henshall provided the third-quarter spark with 15 points including three triples. 

In his 50th game as a Wildcat, Kristian Doolittle (14 points and seven rebounds) was back in the starting five and opened his team’s scoring with a pair of free throws to end a run of five straight points for the Taipans.

The Wildcats bounced back from a sluggish start to even things up at 10 apiece midway through the opening term.

Cairns went on another run late in the quarter to open up a six-point lead.

A steal from Cotton and massive block from Pinder helped inspire the Wildcats at the defensive end, while Doolittle was up to a team-high seven points with 18-22 the score at quarter-time.

Cotton was starting to heat up offensively in the second quarter, nailing a big triple, with Pinder following suit as both players moved to double digits.

Pinder was doing it on the inside as well, driving to the basket with confidence and crashing the glass with three offensive boards for the half to go with 16 points.

From 10 points down early in the term, the Wildcats stormed back into the contest to get within four before the Taipans enjoyed a purple patch before the break to go up 56-47 at half-time.

Cotton got the Wildcats rolling in the second half with his second three-pointer of the night.

Henshall’s back-to-back buckets cut the deficit back to two points before Cotton gave Perth the lead for the first time since early in the opening term with another triple.

Henshall then stole it off his opponent before dunking it to get the crowd on their feet.

Withers joined the three-point party followed by another Cotton basket as the Wildcats’ lead grew to six with three minutes left before three-quarter time.

Henshall scored 15 points on his own in the third quarter in a stunning burst to help his team to an 82-73 buffer at the final change. 

Cairns weren’t done with yet though, putting on a big few minutes to level things up at 87-apiece.

It was 100-all after regular time with Predo Bradshaw sending the game into overtime, while things were all square at 110-each after overtime. 

But that was as good as it got for the Wildcats, with Cairns holding on for a memorable win. 

The Wildcats are back in action at home against South-East Melbourne Phoenix at RAC Arena on Friday night before hitting the road to take on Sydney Kings two days later.