Wildcats’ hot shooting scores victory over Taipans
The deadly three-point shooting of the Perth Wildcats delivered a heart-stopping 85-75 overtime road win over the Cairns Taipans last night.
With the Taipans leading by two in the extra period, Perth imports James Ennis and Jermaine Beal (13 points) nailed three triples to bust the game open, Ennis then sealing the result with a two-handed jam.
Earlier in the night, Cairns looked set for a big upset win as forward Alex Loughton ( 14 points) continued his hot season and the home teams defence shut the Wildcats down, with only Shawn Redhage (17 points, 12 rebounds) keeping the visitors in it.
But Ennis turned on a masterpiece, scoring 17 of his 33 points in a burst across halftime that helped turn a 16-point second-quarter deficit into an eight-point lead late in the third quarter.
Just when it looked as if the Wildcats would pull away, however, Cairns big man Cam Tragardh (22 points, 7 rebounds) produced an incredible final quarter, scoring eight points in four minutes to bring his team back from the brink.
Taipans import then sent the game into overtime, but it was the Wildcats Americans who finished the job.
The Adelaide 36ers survived a late Wollongong Hawks flurry to grind out an 82- 81 victory at Adelaide Arena on Friday night.
Wollongong clawed their way back from an 11-point deficit but ran out of time.