The Perth Wildcats survived an inspired Melbourne comeback to put themselves back on the right track last night, after last week's thrashing against the South East Melbourne Magic.
The Wildcats seemed to burn all their gas in the first half, leaving themselves vulnerable for a typical Melbourne-style comeback.
Perth led by 10 points with a mere three minutes left on the game clock. But a three pointer by Andrew Gaze, and a three-point play by new recruit Jarvis Lang had the Tigers in with a good chance.
When Gaze's last second three-pointer fell short, Perth left Melbourne Park breathing a sigh of relief.
Andrew Vlahov returned to form after two terrible games to open the season, with 23 points and seven rebounds.
Similarly, Ricky Grace also returned to form with 17 points, with the same number of points contributed by backcourt partner Todd Lichti.
Perth seized the initiative in the second quarter, putting on a defensive clinic to restrict the potent Tigers to just 14 points, while adding 30 themselves.
However, the match was won on the strength of the turnover count, Perth recording an unwildcat-like 12, to Melbourne's 22.
For the Tigers Andrew Gaze continued his good form against Perth with an astounding 43 points, almost halve of the Tigers' final score.
"It was a good win, a vital win, but we need to be physically and mentally stronger late in games," Perth coach Adrian Hurley declared.
"We showed an enormous amount of character to get out of this one, but it's not something you'd want to make a habit out of."
The Wildcats face another tough road double this weekend against Sydney and Newcastle, while the Tigers face a desperate Adelaide outfit on Friday night in Melbourne.
Both teams meet again in less than two weeks at the same venue.
Melbourne: Gaze 43, Copeland 22, Lang 21, Smith 10, Giddey 4.
Perth: Vlahov 23, Grace 17, Lichti 16, Crawford 16, Van Dyke 16, Stewart 9, Brown 6.
