The Perth Wildcats landed the first blow in their grand series against the Illawarra Hawks with a determined 89-77 victory in game one at Perth Arena on Sunday night.
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After scores were locked at the main break, the defending champions finals experience came to the fore in the second half as they starved off a Hawks outfit playing without import Marvelle Harris.
Wildcats star Casey Prather (22 points) and fellow American Bryce Cotton (18 points) both played crucial roles as did big-man Matt Knight, who dominated inside to finish with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Cody Ellis had a season-high 12 points for Illawarra as Rotnei Clarke, Rhys Martin and Tim Coenraad all finished with 11.
Despite their lacklustre record in Perth, Illawarra were far from overawed early on in front of a hostile Wildcats crowd. They traded blows with the hosts throughout the opening five minutes.
Knight had his mid range game going early with 10 points in the first eight minutes to lift Perth to a slender 18-16 advantage. Martin came off the bench to provide Illawarra with a spark.
He hit eight straight points, including two threes, at the end of the quarter to give 26-21 lead at the first break. A driving lay-up from Mitch Norton extended the advantage to eight points early in the second before Prather and Cotton combined for a 10-0 run to wrestle back the lead for the hosts.
When Knight bullied his way inside and made one off the glass, scores were level at 42-42 at the main break.
The Wildcats centre led all scorers with 12 points and six rebounds at half time. Cotton had 11 points and Prather 10 points while Martin led the Hawks with 11 points. The titantic struggle to gain ascendacy continued in the third quarter as both sides attempted to build a buffer.
Eventually it was the Wildcats who clawed their way to a seven point advantage on the back of a pair of free throws from Jesse Wagstaff.
A late putback dunk from Angus Brandt saw the lead at 68-62 at the final change.
An early three and reverse lay-up from Cody Ellis set up what looked to be a tense finale as the Hawks closed the lead to two points.
However, Perth showed poise under pressure to keep the Hawks at arms length.
Knight had a hand in everything and extended Perth’s lead to double digits for the first time in the match when he backed his way to the basket. It proved to be a winning buffer as the hosts prevailed by 12 points. Game two will be played in Wollongong on Wednesday night.
