Wildcats hammer Bullets to hit back

The Perth Wildcats coughed one up to Bryce Cotton's Adelaide 36ers and were destroyed by the Sydney Kings, but hit back emphatically on Sunday to beat the struggling Brisbane Bullets 86-62.

The 'Cats were stunned last Sunday with a late 19-2 run by Adelaide to lose in their first time hosting Cotton at RAC Arena and then suffered their equal biggest loss in the venue to Sydney on Friday night.

They arrived at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre trying to respond up against a struggling Bullets team who had lost five straight and had lost another import with sharpshooter Dakota Mathias fracturing his scapula in the first half of Friday's loss to the Illawarra Hawks.

The Bullets started well with the first four points but the Wildcats soon worked on top to be leading 22-13 by quarter-time and then 49-34 by half-time.

Terry Taylor had 14 points on 6/9 shooting for Brisbane but the rest of the team had just 20 points on 6/23.

Perth's lead blew out to 23 points in the third quarter with careless turnovers and stagnant offence killing the Bullets, but the home team did show some fight sparked by Jacob Holt to get back as close as 14 before the 'Cats did enough to win by 24.

In an even team effort, Ben Henshall scored a team-high 15 points for the Wildcats, while David Duke Jr (14 points), Elijah Pepper (11 points) and Dylan Windler (10 points) also hit double digits.

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr also finished with nine points, nine rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists with Kristian Doolittle adding eight points and six boards, and games record holding captain Jesse Wagstaff six points, four rebounds and two assists in less than seven minutes all in the first half.

Brisbane (5-13) have now lost six consecutive games, with their total of 62 against the Wildcats their lowest of the season.

Terry Taylor scored 18 points to lead the way for Brisbane, while Jacob Holt (10 points, three boards) Alex Ducas (10 points, seven rebounds) and Tyrell Harrison (10 points, 12 rebounds) battled hard.

The Wildcats were stone cold in the opening few minutes of the match, but soon found their rhythm and went to quarter-time with a 22-13 lead.

With Doolittle held scoreless in the opening quarter for a second straight match, Henshall stood up with eight points to set the tone for the game.

The scoreboard read 49-34 at half-time, and things continued to get worse for Brisbane as the lead ballooned to 23 points late in the third quarter.

The Bullets closed the margin to 65-49 by three quarter-time, and would have been buoyed by the knowledge that Perth had averaged only 17 points in the final quarter of their past five games.

Perth scored 21 points in the final quarter this time, but Brisbane were held to only 13 in what became the latest big loss of their disappointing season.

The Wildcats are back home on Thursday night against the South East Melbourne Phoenix in their last game at RAC Arena until HoopsFest while the Bullets also play the Phoenix in Melbourne on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

BRISBANE BULLETS 62 (Taylor 18, Ducas 10, Harrison 10, Holt 10)

PERTH WILDCATS 86 (Henshall 15, Duke Jr 14, Pepper 11)

BOX SCORE