Perth Wildcats lose to Melbourne United to fall to fourth place despite big game from Kristian Doolittle

Perth Wildcats’ five game winning streak is over and they have tumbled from second on the ladder to fourth following a dramatic six-point loss to Melbourne United at RAC Arena. The Wildcats fell short of a miraculous comeback win after fighting back from 13 points down in the last quarter to trail by just one point inside the last two minutes. But United won 99-93 The tight nature of the NBL this season meant the clash between the two heavyweights was always going to result in huge ramifications for the ladder. Jack White set up the win for Melbourne with 26 points and 16 rebounds and not even a 33-point game from Kristian Doolittle could save the home team. The Wildcats lost the rebounding 51-37 and Melbourne had 25 free throws to Perth’s 13. Doolittle said his team paid a price for failing to execute the basics. “I feel like even without playing our best game, we lost this game rather than they beat us. IN our long winning streak, we were doing everything. We were doing the little things. It’s a reminder that when you don’t do those, you lose. We’ve got to re-gain focus and be ready to play the next game,” he said. Melbourne had won nine of its last 10 games against Perth at RAC Arena but the Wildcats were riding high with confidence after winning five games in a row. United started brilliantly and led 21-13 with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter. But Perth responded with a devastating blitz, to take a 23-21 lead at quarter time. Doolittle had a big first quarter with nine points and Keanu Pinder’s energy and power was on display as he slammed down dunks at one end and produced thunderous blocks at the other. Perth opened up a four-point lead in the second quarter before the game swung as White had a huge impact for United. He put the visitors up by five points and then they extended it to six points before Jesse Wagstaff nailed a three-pointer on the half-time buzzer to make it a 46-43 game in favour of United. Playing his 250th game, Bryce Cotton was getting heavy defensive attention and didn’t score in the second period. He went to half-time with five points. More than 12,500 fans packed into RAC Arena and stars were everywhere headlined by Luc Longley. There was a strong West Coast Eagles theme with former stars Ben Cousins, Nic Naitanui and Andrew Embley joining captain Liam Duggan, recruit Matt Owies and young pair Reuben Ginbey and Clay Hall sitting courtside, and Perth Scorchers star AJ Tye in attendance. Spanish Next Star Izan Almansa’s personal coach Carlos Frade was also at the game after flying to Perth from Europe. Perth’s young stars lifted to start the second half as David Okwera and Ben Henshall made a series of three-pointers to give Perth a five-point advantage. But White just kept stepping up for United as he levelled the scores and registered a double-double midway through the term. he went to three quarter time with 22 points and 12 rebounds as Melbourne led by three points. The margin blew out to eight points in the blink of an eye to start the last quarter and suddenly the Wildcats were under intense pressure. When Ian Clark scored eight points in less than two minutes, the margin was 13 points. Cotton and Doolittle dragged the deficit back to six points and then free throws from Wagstaff and a three-pointer from Elijah Pepper meant it was a one-point game with 2:13 to play. But Melbourne had all the answers. Cotton finished with 14 points and five assists while Pinder had 10 points and seven rebounds. The Wildcats’ next game is against last placed Cairns at RAC Arena on Saturday night.