NBL 2022: Corey Webster seals Perth win over Melbourne United

In his milestone match an NBL veteran showed his world class in a sizzling victory in Perth.

Corey Webster celebrated his 250th NBL outing in style on Monday night, dropping a matchwinning three-point bomb in the dying seconds to give his side an unlikely victory over Melbourne United.

The Cats trailed Melbourne by five points with less than 10 seconds remaining and little hope of recording a third consecutive win.

Winning at home has been tough for Perth, who was seconds off having a 3-5 record at RAC Arena.

But when the final buzzer sounded, Webster was mobbed by his new teammates, who were celebrating a 90-89 victory.

The win ended a seven-game Melbourne winning streak over Perth in the West.

Spare a thought for Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman though, who is not only trying to get United’s season back on track, but had so much to do with Webster while coaching in New Zealand.

“He has done so many great things in this game,” he said.

“I have enjoyed a lot with him in New Zealand, winning four championships together and what he has done on the international stage.

“He was so close to being an NBA guy.

“I enjoy him playing really good basketball playing for other teams, but tonight I certainly didn’t enjoy that shot from him.”

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 12: Chris Goulding of Melbourne United puts a shot up during the round 10 NBL match between Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United at RAC Arena, on December 12, 2022, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Vickerman was happy with his side’s performance for most of the night, but can easily point to where improvement needs to be made.

“For the most part, we played the right way,” he said.

“They have to do a lot right to win when you‘re five up with 10 seconds to go.

“The 21 points we gave up from turnovers was pretty huge.”

Cotton still the king

Bryce Cotton is still the star of the show.

The three-times NBL MVP leads the league’s scoring and added another 29 points on Monday night.

He was just one point away from reaching 30 points for a fourth time in his past six outings.

In fairness, he did have 18 of those 29 points in the first half and was kept relatively quiet by Shae Ili after halftime.

The Perth champ did lift late in the game again, scoring seven points in the final term, including a three-pointer in the last minute.

Perth coach John Rillie said it was a great team win.

“Hopefully we’re forming to become a great team because we’re finding different contributors on different night and we’re finding a way.

“We haven’t been finding a way previously.

“The thing I am most proud of it was we stuck with it.

“There were 12 guys who embraced that moment and made it work.

“It was our defensive intend down that last 10.4 seconds to be disruptive and come up with those plays.”

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 12: Bryce Cotton of the Wildcats rebounds during the round 10 NBL match between Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United at RAC Arena, on December 12, 2022, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Playing on Cats weakness

For most of Monday night’s game, Melbourne did everything right.

Teams have been filling their boots against Perth, scoring at will when in the paint.

The Wildcats are giving up a massive 44 points per game over the season from the key and that has risen to 48.4 points per game in the past nine outings.

On Monday night, the story was no different.

United owned the key in offence, scoring 42 points this way, Perth managing only 30 in this manner.

Melbourne was the latest side to make the most of a glaring advantage in height over Perth.

The Wildcats have not won the rebound battle once this season. Melbourne had 14 more rebounds, resulting in 15 second-chance points.

Goulding was again terrific with 20 points and Xavier Rathan-Mayes scored 11 in the final term to finish with 22.

Originally published as NBL 2022: Corey Webster seals Perth win over Melbourne United