Melbourne United have revived their NBL semi-final hopes with a 77-67 victory over defending champions Perth.
With the roof open for Wednesday night's Australian Open game at Melbourne Arena, United led from start to finish to snap a three-match losing streak and move one win behind fourth-placed Brisbane.
Chris Goulding led United with 17 points while reserve centre Jo Lual Aculi stepped up in the absence of Alex Pledger (illness) with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
United made a fast start to lead by 13 points after one quarter, earning praise from coach Dean Vickerman for their approach to the must-win game.
"I loved the pace that we played at, we moved the basketball, stayed with the things we said we wanted to do and we defended at a high level," Vickerman said.
With import Terrico White joining Damien Martin on the sidelines, Nick Kay (23) and Bryce Cotton (21) led the way for Perth but they struggled to find other major contributors, United holding them to 37 per cent shooting for the game.
"Getting down in the first quarter, we dug ourselves too big of a hole," admitted Perth coach Trevor Gleeson.
"We wanted to put pressure on them early but we just put pressure on ourselves."
The result sets up a crucial encounter in the race for the top-four on Saturday with United taking on the Bullets in Brisbane.
The match opened with a tribute to the late Kobe Bryant following the tragic death of the NBA legend and daughter Gianna on Monday, the crowd standing to applaud for 24 seconds in their honour.
Melbourne dominated the opening quarter to lead 26-13, Goulding and Stanton Kidd each adding six points, as they took advantage of some wayward shooting and foul trouble from the visitors.
After falling behind by 15 early in the second period, Cotton started to find his groove as Perth scored eight points in a row before Goulding replied from beyond the arc.
But just as the home side appeared to have weathered the storm, Perth pushed again with a 7-0 run to help reduce United's halftime advantage to 40-34.
Cotton scored twice to open the second half as the Wildcats threatened to grab the lead but United held firm to close a scrappy third quarter ahead 55-48.
The Wildcats were poised to break Melbourne hearts when Cotton's jump shot cut Melbourne's lead to 61-59 midway through the final quarter but a triple from Aculi and the steady play of Mitch McCarron guided United home.
Australian Associated Press
