Bryce Special Sees Wildcats Over Harvey, Hawks

Tyler Harvey did his best to try and go with him but Bryce Cotton sent a reminder of just what he's capable of putting up 40 points on Friday night for the Perth Wildcats to score a crucial 106-86 win over the Illawarra Hawks.

The Wildcats are locked in a battle to try and secure a top six position for a spot in the play-in tournament and needed to bounce back from a tough loss on the road to the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Sunday.

The Hawks were never going to make it easy, though, and despite having lost another player with the departure of Mangok Mathiang, came out ready to fire at RAC Arena.

Harvey and Cotton combined for 22 points with scores tied at quarter-time before the Hawks opened up a double-figure lead in the second quarter and were still up five at the half despite 23 Cotton points.

However, another 12 points from Cotton in the third quarter helped the Wildcats assume control and turn a six-point lead at three quarter-time into the 20-point win.

The result improves the 'Cats to a 14-11 record to remain inside the top six while the Hawks are now 3-23 despite another performance full of heart.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bryce is gonna Bryce ?<br><br>He dropped 12 points in the first quarter - and we think the last two were his best ?<br><br>Catch the action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/qvAUDDgFg8">pic.twitter.com/qvAUDDgFg8</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1618926265960108032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cotton finished the night with 40 points for Perth on the back of 11/21 shooting from the floor, 7/11 from deep and 11/11 at the stripe to go with seven rebounds and four assists.

Corey Webster added 15 points and seven rebounds, Brady Manek 16 points and seven boards including a monster dunk late, Luke Travers 11 points, seven boards and three assists, and TaShawn Thomas 10 points and six rebounds.

Wildcats coach John Rillie was delighted to get the important win and for his superstar to show the way.

"Coming into the game we did what we needed to do. We can say the first half wasn’t up to our liking or speed, but the second half we gave great effort on both ends of the floor," Rillie said.

"(Cotton) makes coaching look easy. That was a phenomenal performance and he understands the urgency and the point of the season we're at. So in my shoes when you can rely and know what a guy's mindset is for the big occasion, it really helps.

"I think it gives our team confidence too when they see him perform at that level."

Harvey ended up with 23 points, three rebounds and two assists for Illawarra with Sam Froling contributing 21 points and 10 rebounds, Deng Deng 14 points and six boards, and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk nine points and four rebounds.

Illawarra coach Jacob Jackomas couldn’t fault his team's effort again, but they just ran out of gas and weapons the longer the game went.

"I thought we battled. It sort of got away from us towards the end of the third and the fourth, and we're just playing a lot of guys right now who haven’t had that NBL experience," Jackomas said.

"Then coming in here and playing in front of a packed crowd it is a tough ask, but I thought they battled. I'm sure there's some things we can work on and some things that let us down, but I didn’t think we quit even though the scoreline reflects that it did stretch out a bit at the end."

The Hawks arrived in Perth with the chance to play spoilers and to cause the upset as they did last Thursday in New Zealand. The hero that night was Tyler Harvey and he quickly warmed to the task with the game's first five points.

Sam Froling then scored twice inside and Deng Deng gave the Hawks an early 11-4 advantage.

Bryce Cotton steadied the 'Cats, but only briefly with a three that was answered by Deng. However, Perth then went on a 7-0 run capped off with a Cotton three ball on a Jesse Wagstaff offensive rebound.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dan Grida with the coast-to-coast jam ?<br><br>Follow the action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/JjILscJlLE">pic.twitter.com/JjILscJlLE</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1618936624989216769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Harvey sparked another 6-0 run for the Hawks but the Wildcats answered with the next nine points started with another Wagstaff bucket on an o-board.

Corey Webster hit the last five of those points and by quarter-time, scores were locked at 25-25 with Cotton going for 12 and Harvey 10.

The Hawks came out to start the second quarter on fire with the opening nine points. Their lead got out to 10 points as well soon after following some nice work from Daniel Grida back in his hometown.

Wani Swaka Lo Buluk pushed the Illawarra lead to 11 heading towards half-time but Perth closed the half on a 13-7 run including a pair of three balls from Cotton. However, another late from Harvey kept the Hawks up 55-50 at the break.

Cotton had put up 23 points to half-time with 5/7 three-point shooting but Harvey wasn’t far behind with 18 points on 3/6 from downtown with the superstar guards putting on a show.

After Froling opened the scoring in the second half, Perth scored the next nine point to regain the lead including another three ball from Cotton.

A couple of Luke Travers three-pointers helped Perth out to a five-point lead, and then Cotton's seventh three ball of the game put them out to a six-point edge.

The Hawks weren’t going away and responded from beyond the arc through Harvey and Tim Coenraad, but Perth hit the last four points of the quarter to be up 84-78 at three quarter-time with 35 points from Cotton.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BRADY MANEK PUTS A MASSIVE FULL STOP ON THE CATS&#39; WIN ?‍? <a href="https://t.co/TpNqqm9M1a">pic.twitter.com/TpNqqm9M1a</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1618944286661414914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cotton scored again to go to 37 and put Perth up eight to start the fourth before Brady Manek and TaShawn Thomas pushed the lead out to 12. A Manek three ball made it 13 and from there the Wildcats cruised to the crucial 20-point win.

The Wildcats have a short turnaround for a massive game in Hobart with the Tasmania JackJumpers on Sunday. The Hawks are next in action on Thursday night at home to the New Zealand Breakers.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 17

PERTH WILDCATS 106 (Cotton 40, Manek 16, C Webster 15)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 86 (Harvey 23, Froling 21, Deng 14) 

BOX SCORE