Wildcats outlast Hawks in OT

Kristian Doolittle came up huge to get the Perth Wildcats to overtime where they took charge with Davo Hickey and Makur Maker fouled out for the Illawarra Hawks for the 111-100 win at RAC Arena.

The Saturday night match up was an 11th already to start NBL27 for the Wildcats at RAC Arena but also their last at home until December 16 while the Hawks were playing their fifth, and final, road game.

That did include a win in The Jungle two weeks ago and it was a tight battle all evening with no more than eight points separating the two teams.

That was a lead the Wildcats opened up early in the overtime period having got there with some brilliance in the fourth quarter from Kristian Doolittle including the tying three ball when he pulled up in transition with 9.7 seconds to go.

The Hawks had a chance with the last possession but Makur Maker couldn’t add to his 21 points before he fouled out to start overtime, the Wildcats started it with a 9-1 run and from there secured the 11-point win.

The Wildcats are now 7-6 and having played away just twice so far this season with Doolittle having a huge second half and overtime to end up with 29 points, five rebounds and five assists with 4/7 shooting from the outside.

Dylan Windler added 22 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, Brandon Knight 19 points, three boards and two assists, and Elijah Pepper 15 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists.

The Hawks are 5-10 but have played 10 of those games outside of Wollongong with Maker delivering another 21 points and nine rebounds with 4/5 shooting from the outside.

Kelan Martin added 19 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two assists, Milton Doyle 16 points and three assists, Tyler Harvey 14 points with 4/8 long-range shooting, Davo Hickey 10 points and 10 assists, and Sam Froling 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The two teams met in the same building only two weeks ago with the Hawks winning by seven and the visitors started well again in what is their last match on a long road trip.

With Makur Maker producing 13 points and four rebounds with three triples helped by fellow big Sam Froling with seven points and four rebounds, Illawarra went into quarter-time leading 30-26.

Dylan Winder had eight points already for Perth with Cam Huefner making the most of his second straight start for five points with both teams shooting 5/7 from the outside in the first 10 minutes.

It remained a tight affair through the second quarter but the Wildcats did work on top with 24 points to 18 to go into half-time leading 50-48 with Brandon Knight up to 11 points and Windler still on eight but those two combined to shoot 4/7 from the outside.

The Hawks were still dominant on the glass with 21 rebounds to 11, and seven at the offensive end to two but they also had eight turnovers to just two from Perth.

The Hawks found themselves quickly in the bonus to start the second half and that included two more fouls to Maker that saw him have to sit with four.

Kristian Doolittle also soon picked up a fourth for the Wildcats but Windler scored for the first time since the first quarter with a three ball on the buzzer to give the 'Cats the 69-66 advantage by there quarter-time.

Things remained close the rest of the way too and a fourth triple of the game from Maker saw the Hawks draw back level with four and-a-half minutes to play.

A huge stop up one end to stop a driving Doolittle led to a three in transition to Kelan Martin to put Illawarra back up three with 1:15 to go before Harvey hit another triple on the next possession to make it a five-point edge.

But Perth responded with the next five points including a pull up three from Doolittle with 9.7 seconds to go to tie scores up once more.

Maker took it on himself to try and make a move one-on-one but his turnaround jumper didn’t fall with the game going to overtime.

Perth scored the first five points in extra time including a tough three-point play from Doolittle that also drew a fifth foul on Maker.

The Wildcats ended up scoring nine of the first 10 points in overtime and that was enough for them to say farewell to their home fans for a month with the 11-point win.

Having now played 11 of 13 games at home so far in NBL27, the Wildcats hit the road starting in Cairns on Friday night while the Hawks make their long-awaited return home to host the Adelaide 36ers on Thursday.

PERTH WILDCATS 111 – ILLAWARRA HAWKS 100

Perth Wildcats
Kristian Doolittle – 29 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Dylan Windler – 22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals
Brandon Knight – 19 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Elijah Pepper – 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals
Jaron Rillie – 9 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists

Illawarra Hawks
Makur Maker – 21 points, 9 rebounds, 4/5 3PT
Kelan Martin – 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists
Milton Doyle – 16 points, 3 assists
Tyler Harvey – 14 points, 2 assists
Davo Hickey – 10 points, 10 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks
Sam Froling – 10 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals