Melbourne United’s unbeaten run ends in loss to Perth

Melbourne United suffered its first loss of the NBL season on Saturday night at John Cain Arena. Missing a couple of star players, United was unable to slow down Bryce Cotton as he lifted the Perth Wildcats to victory in a nail-biter.

It was a defensive slog in the first half as both teams struggled to find any groove offensively.

A Bryce Cotton three got scoring underway for the Wildcats and Perth jumped out to an early 7-1 lead, forcing United Coach Dean Vickerman to call a time-out and give his players a rev up.

It clearly worked as out of the time-out, Jack White scored a triple, before throwing down a thunderous dunk thanks to a beautiful Mitch McCarron assist.

Cotton and Mooney paced the Wildcats, while Scotty Hopson and Sam McDaniel scored key buckets for United. At the first break, scores were tied at 20.

Melbourne was sluggish coming out of quarter time and scored just six points in the first five minutes of the second term as Perth extended it’s lead to seven points, 33-26.

A Yudai Baba triple got things moving for United, while a Hopson to Landale alley-oop, followed by a David Barlow triple made it a three-point game with two minutes left in the half.

At the main break, Perth held a four-point lead, 41-37, as United struggled with turnovers (10 first-half turnovers). Landale (8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists) and White (7 points) were best for United, while Jesse Wagstaff (11 points), Cotton (7 points and 5 assists) and Mooney (10 points and 5 rebounds) led the way for the Wildcats.

United came out of the half time break with renewed energy and it was led by McCarron. He drained two triples in the first two minutes of the third quarter, followed by back-to-back buckets from Landale to see United skip out to a four-point lead, 48-44, after three minutes of play.

Baba and Barlow continued to knock down shots, while Cotton and Mooney kept the scoreboard ticking over for Perth. After leading by five points with 3:30 left in the third quarter, Melbourne trailed by one-point, 65-64, heading into the final term after Perth finished the quarter strongly.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth battle as neither team gave an inch. Just as Perth looked to be pulling away, Melbourne would reply and it was Barlow who connected on another triple, before McDaniel stepped up once again and drained a long-range shot.

With the momentum on their side, United grabbed the lead, 79-78, for the first time in the fourth quarter when Landale drove through contact and scored an and-1 bucket.

As he so often does, Cotton answered the challenge with a triple to help the Wildcats regain the lead. When Wagstaff hit a triple with three minutes remaining, Perth owned a three-point lead.

With time ticking away, Landale dunked to have Melbourne within one-point. With everything on the line, it was McCarron who drove hard to the basket and drew the foul. Unfortunately, after landing awkwardly, he limped off the court and wouldn’t return.

Stepping up to the plate to take the free throws was McDaniel, who calmly drained both to give United a one-point lead, 85-84, with 1:07 on the clock.

Having carried Perth all game, Cotton rose to the occasion once more, draining a massive triple with 49 seconds remaining.

Trailing by two points, Hopson had two chances to secure a win for Melbourne, but both of his triples missed the mark and the Wildcats eventually ran out four-point winners, 89-85.

Landale (20 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists), Barlow (11 points and 3 assists), McDaniel (career-high 10 points) and Hopson (10 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists) all scored in double figures for Melbourne.

Perth was led by Cotton (29 points and 7 assists), Wagstaff (14 points and 6 rebounds) and Mooney (13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists).

Despite the loss, Melbourne remains on top of the ladder with a 6-1 record and will look to bounce back against the Cairns Taipans on Monday night at John Cain Arena. Tip off is at 7:30pm.