Musashi Match Report: Late Surge Powers Wildcats over Phoenix

South East Melbourne Phoenix succumbed to a late Wildcats flurry in Perth tonight to go down 88-76 in Round 2 NBL action.

The Phoenix led by four points at the main break and held the lead with five minutes remaining in the ball game before the Wildcats turned up the pressure and dominated the final foray.

Mitch Creek led scorers for the Phoenix with 17 points on 7-10 shooting. Adam Gibson (13 points, 3-5 from three) again played well off the bench, while Cam Gliddon started to find his touch on his new team with 15.

(Adam Gibson's early-season form has been superb)

Reigning MVP Bryce Cotton was his usual dominant self in the Wildcats’ season opener, draining 27 points and handing out seven assists. Import big John Mooney also proved an issue for the Phoenix, grabbing 15 rebounds to go with his 13 points.

“The scores were tied at 70 (with five minutes remaining) and our execution was poor,” Phoenix Coach Simon Mitchell said.

“We’ve got to be absolutely spot on with our execution, spot on with our defensive execution, and we weren’t. We had a couple of blunders.

“I thought we lost pace in our offence and we turned the ball over too much.”

(Bryce Cotton was huge in front of his home crowd)

It was the Phoenix’s third consecutive road game to start the season with another to come on Friday in Perth, but Mitchell says his team isn’t making any excuses for the poor final term.

“You’re going to have to push through any inconveniences and if you can’t push through an inconvenience, you’re not going to be there when the whips are cracking,” he said.

“We’re not going to make excuses, we don’t acknowledge that it’s difficult, it is what it is and we’ve just got to make sure we prepare ourselves the best we can.

“We’ve got great guys, we get along, work hard together. We’re pretty honest amongst each other about what we think and how we think we’re going so being on the road shouldn’t be too much of an issue for us.

“We have to push through and we have to be better.”

A Friday night rematch in Perth is followed by a Sunday Throwdown with cross-town rivals Melbourne United in Bendigo for the 1-2 Phoenix.

FULL BOX SCORE

Sam Bunn for Phoenix Media (24/01/2021)