Wildcats end Brisbane's winning NBL run
Perth has snapped Brisbane's four-game NBL winning streak after it thrashed the Bullets 115-93 at Challenge Stadium.
Brisbane's poor run in Western Australia, where it hasn't won in nearly four years, continued, and its losing streak to the Wildcats increased to four games.
Shawn Redhage once again powered Perth with a game-high 31 points and 11 rebounds while fellow American David Bailey provided able support, finishing with 23 points, 13 assists and 8 boards.
For the visitors, Stephen Black had an explosive first half with 21 points, including three buckets from downtown, but was caught up in foul trouble in the third quarter to eventually finish with 25 points.
Veteran Lanard Copeland was again effective off the bench, contributing 21 points for the game as well as four three-pointers.
The match wasn't short of drama, with Wildcats forward Dillon Boucher and Brisbane's Bobby Brannen involved in a minor scuffle after Boucher floored Black with nine minutes remaining in the second.
Brisbane soon coasted to a 39-28 lead on the back of a Brannen double a minute later before Perth finally clicked and got down to business.
The Wildcats duly went on a devastating 24-9 spurt to lead by four points at the interval. David Bailey chimed in with 11 points which included three three-pointers - and Redhage contributed 10 in the run which set up the match for Perth.
A Bailey triple with one-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first half gave Perth a 47-46 lead, its first since the opening bucket of the game, an advantage it would never let go of.
Brisbane coach Joey Wright was furious afterwards about a Liam Rush elbow on star player Stephen Black late in the final quarter.
"I was disappointed in the antics after the game was already won," he said.
"I could've put out an alert call (to be physical) at that point in time when we (were) down by 20 and they were being physical with us all game.
"I just think it was ridiculous. It's upsetting at this point."
Wildcats coach Scott Fisher admitted Black was a target for his defence.
"Stephen was a target in terms of playing hard defence, he scored 30 points two games ago for them," he said.
"The incident was unfortunate but I can understand Brisbane's frustrations. It was a very important game for them and to be beaten comprehensively for the third straight time by us has got to hurt."
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