BRYCE Cotton’s heroics continued into Round 11 of the NBL season, the superstar and now MVP frontrunner scoring 99 points across the Perth Wildcats’ two games. It was only enough to split results though as his side went down to the Illawarra Hawks on Friday night before heading to Adelaide and toppling the 36ers.

Early signs were good on Friday for Perth as they led after one quarter on the back of 13 Cotton points. Cotton was coming off his record breaking 59-point performance in the Cats’ last game and looked set to carry on his superb form. Illawarra hit back in the second term thanks to a Trey Kell III hot streak, before Perth took back the lead in the third and headed into the final frame up three. The Hawks rallied in the fourth quarter and held Cotton to just four points, outscoring Perth 33-20 en route to a 10-point win.

Trey Kell ended with 26 points for the night after shooting 3/5 from downtown, while Darius Days continued his rejuvenated form to start the latter half of the season from the bench. Days had 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Wani Swaka Lo Buluk and Sam Froling both added 17 points. Illawarra grabbed 13 more rebounds than Perth and made a ridiculous 25 of 32 free throws.

For the home side, Cotton ended with another 40-point outing, nailing six of nine attempts from beyond the arc. Elijah Pepper added 14 points off the bench and shot 4/6 from three himself, while Next Star Izan Almansa contributed 15 points and nine rebounds. 

Unfortunately for the second time in four games Perth lost Kristian Doolittle in the opening quarter, this time the star import lasting less than a minute before succumbing to a groin injury. It remains to be seen how serious the injury is, but Perth can ill-afford to lose its main defensive player going into an important stretch of games. They are still without Keanu Pinder who missed both Round 11 games with illness, while Tai Webster returned from a hamstring injury and played significant minutes in both games. 

Following the loss, Perth headed to Adelaide to take on the depleted 36ers, who regained MVP candidate Kendric Davis but were still without star big man Montrezl Harrell. Davis, who missed the last two games due to suspension, had lost nothing during his absence, stepping straight back into the starting line-up and playing a spectacular 36 minutes. 

Davis scored 37 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out 11 assists, while shooting 50% from long distance. His partner at the centre spot Isaac Humphries also stepped up, as he has done impactfully in Harrell’s absence, scoring 25 points on 92 per cent from the field. Humprhies missed just one shot and was perfect from the free throw line as well. Their impact, plus solid contributions from Sunday Dech, Jarell Martin and Nick Marshall, led the 36ers to a six-point half-time advantage. 

It was all Wildcats in the second half though, as Cotton extended his incredible scoring streak, with a third consecutive 40-point game. Cotton scored 15 points in the third quarter to trim the deficit to just three points leading into the last quarter, before Ben Henshall iced the game with eight fourth term points as Perth outscored Adelaide 36-23 to win by 10 points. Henshall scored 15 points to go with four assists and four rebounds, while the Wildcats were also boosted by Dylan Windler’s 13 points and seven rebounds. Almansa added eight points and seven rebounds as he continues to be a serviceable starter this year.

David Okwera entered the starting line-up for the first time this year in places of the injured Doolittle, whose nominated replacement player Todd Withers scored eight points and knocked down two threes off the bench.

Cotton finished the night with 49 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, while knocking down five of his eight attempts from deep. His 148 points across his last three games made him the second player in history, and first since Andrew Gaze in 1991 to score 40 points in three consecutive games. His greatness over this absurd scoring stretch has placed him back into serious contention for the MVP award, giving him every chance to win back-to-back awards and his fifth MVP title overall. 

Cotton will seek to continue his scoring prowess on Saturday as the Wildcats travel to Cairns and take on the bottom placed Taipans, winners of just three games so far this season. Despite the split results Perth climbed to fourth place on the NBL25 ladder as New Zealand dropped their third and fourth straight games across Round 11.

Perth now find itself equal second in the competition for games won, with four consecutive single game rounds to come. They won’t come easy though, as the Wildcats’ win over Adelaide begun a stretch of eight away games on the trot, and they won’t return home until January 17^th when they again face the 36ers.