Melbourne stunned NBL heavyweight Perth with a come-from-behind 87-82 victory on Friday night.
The visiting Wildcats built an impressive 21-point lead in the second quarter and looked likely to record a comfortable win.
But on the night the Tigers honoured their 1993 championship team, Melbourne refused to accept defeat and clawed its way back to record a famous triumph.
Melbourne outscored Perth 61-35 from midway through the second quarter to pull off the comeback.
Ayinde Ubaka led the Tigers with 23 points, Cameron Tragardh added 22 and import Ron Dorsey finished with 18 points in his best display of the season.
Matthew Knight had 24 and seven rebounds for Perth, with Brad Robbins bagging 13 points.
Perth used a Knight-inspired 14-3 second-quarter run to build a 47-26 lead, but the Tigers quickly closed the gap to 15 points at half-time thanks to consecutive Daniel Dillon baskets.
That momentum carried over to the second half, Melbourne scoring the first nine points on the back of some Tragardh brilliance as he struck back in his match-up with Knight.
With the deficit back to six points, the game settled into a defensive grind, with baskets earned in a physical contest.
The Tigers outscored the visitors 25-11 in the third quarter and entered the final term down 61-60.
When Ubaka sank a shot to start the term, the Tigers led for the first time since the opening quarter, only for Wildcat guard Everard Bartlett (10 points) to take it straight back with a three-pointer.
The teams traded the lead through an exciting final period before a spectacular Dorsey dunk and three-pointer on successive plays gave the Tigers a 79-76 edge.
From there Melbourne converted its free throws to record its sixth win in eight games.
AAP
Tags: nbl, basketball, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, perth-6000, wa, australia First posted November 18, 2011 22:06:17
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