Bullets win a thriller over Wildcats - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Bullets win a thriller over Wildcats

By Stuart Mclea 02/11/2006 05:56:22 AM Comments (0)

The Brisbane Bullets ended a six-game losing streak against the Perth Wildcats and displayed their championship credentials with a thrilling one-point win at Challenge Stadium on Wednesday night.

Despite scoring just 14 points in the last period, the Bullets won 100-99 with former Cat, CJ Bruton, the hero for the winners.

Bruton stepped up to the plate in the dying seconds, driving to the bucket with six seconds left, converting his shot and getting a foul for his trouble.

Scores were level at 99 apiece when he went to the line and, despite the best efforts of a boisterous crowd, he sunk the final shot of the game.

Perth had one final shot at glory but Shawn Redhage narrowly missed a jump-shot.

It was sweet revenge for the Bullets who coughed up a 14-point lead to the West Australian side the last time they met.

In reality the game should never have been that close.

Perth trailed by 16 points at the final change and appeared to have no answers to Dusty Rychart and Ebi Ere.

It was an inspirational performance by Tony Ronaldson, with 10 points in the final period, and some superb defence, giving up just two points in over eight minutes, that almost led the West Australian side to a famous victory.

Within eight minutes of the quarter starting, Perth captain Paul Rogers had given his side a 89-88 lead.

Redhage extended this by two. Bullet Sam Mackinnon banged one in off the glass to keep the visitors in the game and then the Brisbane restored the lead when Dillon Boucher, another former Cat, laid up with two minutes to go.

Ronaldson responded from side on to the bucket to make it a 93-92 game.

Rogers sank two pressure foul shots to extend the lead to three with 1.20 left on the clock, as did Redhage and the game looked over.

However, Ere added two for Brisbane and when Ronaldson hit just one of his foul shots, he followed that up with a phenomenal triple to get Brisbane within one-point with 13 seconds remaining.

Adam Caporn was fouled and iced one of his two shots to give Perth a 99-97 lead.

That is when Bruton decided to take the game by the scruff of the neck, almost single-handedly dragging his team over the line.

It was a far less spicy affair than last year's brutal clash which threatened to boil over on occasions but it was action packed nonetheless.

Rychart was a standout for Brisbane with 17 points and 11 boards.

He had a double-double by halftime with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Ere top scored for the winners with 24 points. It was Brisbane's fourth game away from home in succession a row with three more to come.

Brisbane coach Joey Wright admitted he was drained after such an intense game.

He was full of praise for the Perth crowd who made it tough for his players down the stretch.

"It is good to get the win, it is always a tough place to play," Wright said.

"We went through the same situation, up by 14 points in the third quarter in our house... It's about fighting your way through until the horn goes off."

Perth coach Scott Fisher said he wasn't shocked by his team's refusal to give in but admitted Brisbane probably deserved the win.

"I think they played better basketball than we did for most of the game, I thought they controlled the tempo and the style of play and really took it to us for the first 36 minutes," he said.

"In saying that you could not fault our character... sometimes character in sport, if you are all on the same page, is enough to give you a chance. In fact we did have more than a chance tonight."

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