NBL22 Puppi Lovers Recap: Round 11 vs Perth Wildcats

Written by Melbourne United Media

Melbourne United have come away with an important victory, breaking a two-game losing streak against the Perth Wildcats on Saturday evening at John Cain Arena.

Looking to avenge their Grand Final defeat from NBL21, Perth came out firing early, opening up an early advantage.

Vic Law, Bryce Cotton and Mitch Norton all did damage in the first term, helping the visitors lead by as many as 15 points.

United were able to get their fans roaring despite the deficit, with a Jack White block leading to a Shea Ili layup bringing the crowd to their feet.

With work to do, United came out of the quarter-time break looking strong.

After a quick 5-0, Melbourne weathered a strong effort from Bryce Cotton to blaze back into the game.

There were some highlight plays from the home side as they attacked Perth, including a great alley oop pass from Caleb Agada, feeding Jack White for the hoop plus the foul.

Captain Chris Goulding then took it upon himself to get his side going, scoring 16 points and knocking down a trio of three pointers in the period.

This, combined with some amazing defence from Ili, and strong interior play from Jo Lual-Acuil Jr helped United go on a 17-3 run to close the quarter, with United ahead 53-48.

Not content with their lead, Melbourne kept the pressure on the Wildcats, pulling further ahead on the back of elite defence and great ball movement.

The ball zipped around like lightning for the defending champs, with JLA finding himself on the receiving end of a number of massive alley-oop slams as a result of United’s passing.

When the passing wasn’t enough however, the man they call Too-Hard-To-Agada went to work, cutting through the defence time and time again to get to the rim for tough buckets. He finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

With the offence humming, the defence locked down Perth, allowing only 13 points from the Wildcats and giving United an 18-point advantage going into the final 10 minutes.

Looking to put the game away, United were forced to work hard to keep hold of their lead.

Ariel Hukporti played his part, providing one of the highlights of the season when he stuffed Todd Blachfield’s dunk attempt to get the crowd into a frenzy.

Despite this, Perth worked their way back, cutting the lead to as little as six-points with only minutes remaining.

Needing a hero, Matthew Dellavedova stepped up to help ice the game for United, scoring nine of his 18 points in the final term to hold the Wildcats at bay.

The game-ending play was indicative of the contest, as JLA pulled down an offensive rebound, one of his 13 boards to go along with his 22 points and three blocks, to seal the 93-87 win.

This victory lifts Melbourne back to the top of the NBL22 ladder ahead of Throwdown XIV, delivered by DoorDash, against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday.

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