Wildcats hold off Bullets in NBL win
Nov 17, 2017 - 11:28 AM Perth coach Trevor Gleeson admits he's glad to have the "road monkey" off his back after beating Brisbane 90-83 in a tough NBL away clash at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.The defending champions led at every break and withstood a number of surges from Brisbane who tied it up at 71-all mid-way through the final quarter.
"They applied some good pressure in the back court but we got some counters going ... which we haven't been doing," said Gleeson of the seven-point victory.
"I just said to the boys to keep chipping away and we got back into it even though they were pretty dominant on the boards early.
"I liked how gritty we were. You have to show that grit on the road especially when you don't shoot the ball particularly well.
"We had three lay-up roll outs and Bryce (Cotton) slipped with an open basket but it's always good to get your first road win in the bag, especially when you haven't played your best."
A free-throw error in which Travis Trice illegally took the two shots from the stripe when team-mate Perrin Buford was fouled added to the late drama with Gleeson calling for a technical foul.
"Buford got fouled and I didn't see the first shot (by Trice) but luckily the assistant coaches yelled out that it was Buford and not Trice who should have been at the line," said an amused Gleeson.
"If they put the wrong shooter on the line I thought it was an automatic technical foul but they cancelled the points, so I didn't know the rules.
"I thought they were trying to pull a swifty like we did back in the 1980s but obviously there was confusion there."
Athletic import Buford did his best to drag Brisbane back into Friday's game as the Bullets closed to 71-71 before Cotton went to work with a string of three-pointers to finish with a game-high 24 points.
Buford injured his foot finishing off an ally-oop from Trice and had to leave the court for treatment as the Bullets were launching a crucial late charge.
Brisbane now have to regroup for a tough clash with ladder leaders New Zealand on Sunday.
Source: AAP
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