IT WAS one of the most exciting minutes of basketball we have seen all season as the Perth Wildcats came from the clouds to stun Melbourne United at RAC Arena on Monday night, thanks to a ridiculously clutch play from Corey Webster in game 250.

It appeared United had done enough to seal an impressive road victory, holding a handy lead with less than 60 seconds on the clock. However, thanks to some timely buckets in crunch time, the Wildcats were suddenly back in the game.

Perth had the opportunity to come within one point with a free throw in the dying seconds of the game, and when the shot missed and the ball made its way out to the perimeter, the Wildcats were able to claim a thrilling one-point triumph, one of the most special wins of the season.

Perth Wildcats (90) def. Melbourne United (89)

The build-up

Although many sides struggle heading to RAC Arena, United entered the jungle on a seven-game winning streak at the venue, and despite fluctuating form in the first 10 rounds of play, appeared confident in that history. With a full roster at its disposal, Melbourne took a commanding lead behind guards Shea Ili (12 points, three assists), Xavier Rathan-Mayes (22 points, three assists) and Chris Goulding (20 points). A 24-15 second quarter in United’s favour saw the visitors on track.

Keeping the Wildcats in the game were the efforts of Bryce Cotton (29 points, 18 in the first half) and Webster, with the duo ticking Perth’s score over, although the duo’s strong showing looked to be in vain as Melbourne managed to hold onto its lead until the final minute of play. 11 straight points from Rathan-Mayes saw United lead by eight points with just 45 seconds to play, and it appeared to be game over. However, Cotton stepped up with the match’s next five points to give the Wildcats a sniff, but Melbourne was still up by five with 10 seconds on the clock. The rest will go down in Wildcats history.

The moment

Although Webster was the hero (we’ll get to that), the play was remarkably set up by Todd Blanchfield, who drained a three with eight seconds to play and was fouled after Ili impeded his landing space, showing terrific composure in the game’s biggest moment to that point. However, his free throw was wayward, but the ball went straight back to the Wildcats forward, who had the presence of mind to immediately look to the perimeter.

He found a wide-open Webster, who was a foot and a half behind the three-point line. The veteran wasted no time putting up the shot after his direct opponent in Ili chased the rebound from the free throw, with his triple hitting nothing but net as RAC Arena erupted from one of 2022’s most remarkable comebacks.

The aftermath

United were unable to answer, left to wonder how they let their eight-point lead vanish in less than a minute. On the other hand, it was the perfect way to celebrate the career of Webster, who already has three titles next to his name and is looking to add a fourth. The triumph puts Perth above .500 with a record of eight wins and seven losses and into sixth, while United slumped to six wins and 11 losses.

Speaking post-game Webster emphasised the performance of the team rather than his own heroics.

“It was just an amazing grind out win for the team. Coming into this one we felt like we hadn’t given Melbourne our best shot as the Wildcats this season, and we owed them one,” Webster said.

“It feels good now that we’ve got some rhythm with some wins on the trot to play focused all the way to the end. 

“It’s good signs for us and it feels a bit different than it did at the start of the season where we may have given up in the last minute or so. For us to see that growth as a team feels good.”