Shawn Redhage pulled off a last-second rejection to hand the Perth Wildcats a nail-biting 87-86 victory over the New Zealand Breakers in game two of the NBL grand final series at Challenge Stadium on Friday night.
In a bizarre finish to the match, the Wildcats hit the lead with a minute remaining after Breakers forward Gary Wilkinson accidentally tipped the ball into his own basket.
Then, with the clock counting down, Breakers guard CJ Bruton charged in for what he hoped would be the game-winning lay-up, only for Redhage to come over the top with a massive block to secure the win.
Redhage had endured a dirty night up until that point, but the forward erupted in pure joy after pulling off the game-deciding move in front of a sell-out crowd.
Perth's win levelled the series at 1-1, with the decider to be played in Auckland next Tuesday.
Wilkinson top-scored for the Breakers with 28 points, while CJ Bruton (20 points) and CJ Pledger (14) were also important for the visitors.
The Wildcats hit just one of 18 three-point attempts, but still managed to come away with the win courtesy of an even scoring load.
Star guard Kevin Lisch and Jesse Wagstaff each scored 15, while Matthew Knight (13), Greg Hire (12) and Redhage (12) also chipped in.
Wilkinson was unstoppable in the first half, with the centre nailing 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting to silence the Perth crowd early.
Bruton was deadly from long range as the Breakers opened up a 46-33 lead midway through the second quarter.
Tempers threatened to boil over late in the half as the teams engaged in a push-and-shove, and the extra heat seemed to help the Cats as they closed the deficit to six by the main break.
However, the half ended on a controversial note when Wilkinson was awarded a basket on the buzzer despite Wildcats players believing time had already elapsed.
The Wildcats failed to hit a three-pointer in the opening half, and it took them until the dying minutes of the third term to finally register one.
Several bombs from Bruton in the final term looked to be enough to give New Zealand the win, but the Wildcats kept plugging away and eventually wore down the Breakers.
Star Breakers swingman Tom Abercrombie managed just six points in his first game back from an ankle injury.
AAP
Tags: nbl, basketball, sport, perth-6000, wa, australia, new-zealand First posted April 20, 2012 23:12:35
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