A CAREER-BEST performance from Ian Clark has delivered a Championship Series berth to his side, as Melbourne United defeated the Perth Wildcats by one point in a thrilling game three of their semi-final series.

The series was tied at one game apiece heading into Tuesday night’s clash at John Cain Arena, with both sides claiming home wins over the past week. It was billed as a blockbuster matchup between two heavyweight sides of the competition, and was delivering on the hype with two cracking contests to open proceedings.

Despite being in enemy territory, it was the Wildcats who jumped out to an early lead, holding an 11-point buffer at the first change. As expected, United reeled it in and cut that to four points at the main break, and it was a tense second half with the match going down to the wire.

Both sides held the lead at times, and when the Wildcats tied up the game through Jesse Wagstaff with 2.9 seconds on the clock, overtime looked imminent. However, a perfectly executed inbounds play from Melbourne saw Chris Goulding sink the winning free throw to hand Melbourne a two-point win.

Although Goulding was the hero for United, they would not have been in the match if not for the efforts of Clark, who put Melbourne on his back when offence was drying up and the Wildcats were running away with it.

Melbourne United (113) def. Perth Wildcats (112)

Ian Clark – 38 points, two rebounds, three assists

Clark put up the best numbers of his NBL/NBA career on Tuesday night, steering Melbourne to victory with a scintillating scoring performance.

With Melbourne struggling to get points on the board, Dean Vickerman injected Clark into the game earlier than many expected, at the expense of the crucial Shea Ili. The Bryce Cotton stopper was taken out of the game and it looked to be a move that backfired, as the five-time MVP started to get off the chain with high ball screens allowing him to get in front of his defender and punish the opposition for sagging off.

However, what was working in Melbourne’s favour was Clark going blow for blow with Cotton in an enthralling duel that proved to be a battle within a battle. The former NBL Best Sixth Man was in his bag from deep and ensuring the deficit did not get out of hand.

At the main change, Clark had matched Cotton with 22 points, and kept the margin at just four points. He was making every post a winner with his shot selection and the Wildcats lacked the perimeter defence to stop him from finding the bottom of the net.

Clark posted a quick six points in the third quarter, and formed a damaging partnership with Jack White, who poured in all 15 of his points for the match in that term. This gave Melbourne the lead despite the slow start to the match, and the hosts held a slim three-point buffer at the final change.

He capped off the game with a couple of late drives into the paint, with his layups proving crucial given how close the ending of the match was.

Clark shot a remarkably accurate 14/19 from the field, while also nailing six of his nine attempts from behind the arc, and there is no doubt United would be watching the Championship Series from the couch if not for his performance.