United hold out Wildcats despite losing Goulding

Melbourne United lost captain Chris Goulding to injury but found a way to stay undefeated turning a 10-point third quarter deficit into a narrow 75-71 victory over Perth Wildcats in Bendigo on Sunday.

Goulding hobbled off with what appeared to be a calf injury late in the third term and didn’t return but he will be heartened by the response from his teammates as they rode a series of important contributions to their fourth-straight win to start the season.

Japanese guard Yudai Baba enjoyed his best game in the NBL with 14 points, two steals and two blocks while also spending a chunk of the game guarding the ever-dangerous Bryce Cotton (24 points, seven rebounds, six assists) before fouling out in the final minutes.

Melbourne centre Jock Landale (16 points) and point guard Mitch McCarron (13 points) also came up big in the final term.

United coach Dean Vickerman said Goulding appeared to have a calf strain but he would receive further tests in the coming days.

Vickerman praised Baba’s energy in sticking with Cotton while also making problems for Perth at the offensive end.

"Baba was such a factor for us tonight in being able to slow Bryce down a little bit and making everything as difficult as possible," Vickerman said.

"We found some post possessions and I found Jock made some good reads out of it, they double-teamed him all night and I thought he moved the basketball well and we got some good shots of it.

"There were a few more shots we could have knocked down but we had to get a rebound to secure the win there and Jack White came up with a huge rebound to get that extra possession.

"When you lose the rebounding against Perth it’s very tough to win but our defence held them to under 35 per cent shooting."

Perth has shown their defence and rebounding is still as good as anyone in the NBL but they will need more scoring help for Cotton who only had John Mooney (15 points on 5/17 shooting) and Mitch Norton (11 points) join him in double-figures.

Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson said his side did well to fight off some fatigue but needed more offensive support for Cotton.

"We got a little bit fatigued, it was probably just a lack of playing as you can’t just get into rhythm," Gleeson said.

"I thought we were better than last week or whenever we played last. I thought it was a really good step in the right direction to hold a team like that to 75 points. We just need more productivity for some guys on the offensive end."

Neither side could break free in the opening term but Melbourne came to life in the second quarter as Japanese guard Baba scored eight points and also set up a Goulding three-pointer following a towering block from Landale.

Melbourne’s 26-19 lead looked a prime opportunity to build a decisive lead but Perth had other ideas as Cotton boosted his scoring then Mooney and 350-gamer Jesse Wagstaff found openings to regain the lead, an edge they would build to 42-37 at half-time.

The Wildcats extended their lead to double-figures in the third and Melbourne looked in trouble but they managed to grind down that advantage and despite losing Goulding to what appeared to be a calf injury, United went into the final term tied 56-56 after Dave Barlow’s buzzer-beating three.

Baba’s energy and some key baskets from McCarron and Landale helped United surge ahead 69-61 heading into the final minutes but Cotton gave his side a late chance with two three-pointers despite close attention from the Japanese guard.

But with 20 seconds to play and just a two-point deficit remaining, Cotton dribbled off his foot and into the backcourt before a late offensive rebound from Jack White and two free throws from Landale made sure of the win.

The victory leaves United the only defeated team left in #NBL21 but they now face a fascinating test on Wednesday night on the road to the Hawks in Wollongong.

They will be without Goulding and still with just the one import, and Scotty Hopson again failed to break out of his funk on Sunday with just the nine points and six assists on 4/13 shooting.

West Australian product Corey Shervill made his NBL debut when he checked into the game for Perth in the first half as another product of Lakeside Lightning joining the likes of Daniel Grida and fellow Wildcats development player Andrew Ferguson.

Perth skipper Wagstaff had three points and seven rebounds in his 19 minutes as the six-time champion brought up his 350th NBL game to see him now only behind Ricky Grace, Shawn Redhage and James Crawford in Wildcats history.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 4

MELBOURNE UNITED 75 (Landale 16, Baba 14, McCarron 13)

PERTH WILDCATS 71 (Cotton 24, Mooney 15, Norton 11) 

BOX SCORE