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The Perth Wildcats put their final-quarter wobbles behind them with a comprehensive 89-77 NBL triumph over Wollongong Hawks at Challenge Stadium tonight.
The Cats entered the match having lost seven of their eight final quarters this season to sit second last on the table with a 3-5 record.
But after taking a 12-point lead into the final quarter, Perth managed to break even in the last quarter, with only some meaningless baskets to the Hawks in the dying minutes allowing the visitors to add some respectability to the scoreboard.
Perth forward Alex Loughton starred with 21 points and three blocks, while scoring machine Shawn Redhage (20 points) and 21-year-old Queenslander Stephen Weigh (15 points) were also crucial in the win.
Former King Luke Kendall, who only received clearance to play yesterday after signing on with the Cats as an injury replacement for Paul Rogers, endured a horrid debut off the bench.
The 27-year-old posted just two points and committed three turnovers in 19 minutes of court time.
Glen Saville (nine points) had a quiet night for the visitors with Anthony Petrie (24 points) and Mat Campbell (13 points) forced to pick up the slack.
The Cats controlled proceedings in a free-flowing opening term with Weigh particularly impressive.
A pair of Saville threes kept the visitors within touch but Weigh’s long bomb on the quarter-time siren gave the Cats a 29-23 lead at the first break.
The Cats got themselves into foul trouble midway through the second term but Wollongong failed to capitalise, hitting just 50 per cent of their free throws for the stanza as the home side entered the long break with a handy 46-37 lead.
It was as good as game over as the Cats extended the buffer to 17 points midway through the third quarter but a late scoring spree gave the visitors a sniff heading into the last quarter.
However, any prospect of a Hawks comeback was quickly extinguished early in the final quarter as the Cats opened up an 18-point lead to ice the game.
Perth coach Conner Henry said he was satisfied with Kendall’s first-up performance.
“I think we were all pleased with how he played,” Henry said.
“He missed some shots, who cares?
“But if you notice that when he has the ball in his hands he’s supremely confident and throws over the top and gets us into our offence and it just gives us another ball handler and an experienced one.”
Wollongong coach Eric Cooks said his team simply weren’t desperate enough.
“I don’t think we had enough contributors,” Cooks said.
“We allowed them to push us around. We can’t be that inconsistent.
“It is a long flight (to Perth) but we are professionals. At the end of the day we’ve got to get ourselves up and ready to play.
“For whatever reason we looked flat. I thought we were flat across the board.”
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