Wildcats dig deep to hold out Phoenix

A spot in the Ignite Cup Final quickly became out of calculations but the Perth Wildcats hit back strongly from a fourth one-point loss at RAC Arena in NBL26 to beat the second ranked South East Melbourne Phoenix 101-93.

There was plenty at stake coming into the Wednesday night match up on Wednesday night but once the Phoenix outscored the Wildcats 32-24 in the fourth the chance of Perth reaching the Ignite Cup Final was no longer possible.

Despite that, there was plenty on the line in the context of the NBL season proper with the Phoenix needing a win to stay solid in second and a chance to nab first while the Wildcats also needed to stay in touch of the top four.

Perth got back into the contest to close the deficit to two by half-time and then the 'Cats controlled the fourth quarter with 26 points to 16 on the way to the critical eight-point home victory.

It was a relief for the Wildcats at home too on the back of losing at the death to Melbourne United on Sunday which was their fourth game of NBL26 they have lost at RAC Arena by a solitary point.

The victory improves Perth to 17-11 to sit just one win back from fourth-placed Melbourne with five regular season games to play.

After their tense discussion on court post-match on Sunday, both Kristian Doolittle (10 points, eight rebounds, five assists) and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr (18 points, six rebounds, three blocks) had a big say in the win for the Wildcats.

Dylan Windler also delivered 23 points and 11 rebounds, Elijah Pepper 22 points and six boards, and Ben Henshall 14 points, nine assists and five rebounds and a crucial late bucket when driving to the hoop.

The Phoenix (19-9) remain second, but just one win ahead of Sydney and two back from leaders Adelaide who they now play on Saturday.

Nathan Sobey top-scored once more for South East Melbourne with 28 points, eight rebounds and three assists with 6/12 three-point shooting but he couldn’t quite get a crucial shot to fall late to keep his team in it.

John Brown III once again did a power of work as a warrior for 20 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and two assists while making 10/12 of his free throws but only shooting 5/14 from the field.

Wes Iwundu added 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, Ian Clark 10 points on just 2/9 shooting, and Owen Foxwell 10 points.

Both teams back up to play again in Round 19 with the Wildcats on the road to the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday and that same night, the Phoenix are in a crucial match up on the road to the league-leading Adelaide 36ers.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26 - IGNITE CUP PRESENTED BY DISNEY+

PERTH WILDCATS 101 (Windler 23, Pepper 22, Lual-Acuil Jr 18)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 93 (Sobey 28, Brown III 20, Iwundu 11)

BOX SCORE