Bullets claim big road win in perth

The Brisbane Bullets displayed alot of resilience and put together a strong performance to defeat the Wildcats in Perth on Friday night.

The Bullets quite simply outworked the Perth Wildcats and despite being on the road and missing two important players, put in a performance full of heart for the 84-79 NBL win.

Both teams were 2-4 coming into the Friday night match up on losing slides, but it was the Wildcats with the pressure building with the Bullets without key pair Aron Baynes and Shannon Scott (hamstring).

There was so much to like from what the Bullets did in what was the ultimate team performance against the tide. It was a determined Bullets group ready to make a statement and that's exactly what they did.

By the end of the night, the Bullets outrebounded the Wildcats 46-39, got to the foul line six more times and shot 46 per cent from the field to 38 from the 'Cats.

Brisbane scored the first seven points before opening up a 20-point lead in the third quarter and going on to win by five holding out a furious late charge from the home team.

Every player made an impressive contributions too with captain Nathan Sobey top-scoring with 17 points to go with six rebounds and two assists while going 9/11 at the free-throw line.

Chris Smith chimed in with 16 points including going a perfect 6/6 at the stripe with Josh Bannan outstanding in just his second NBL game. He ended up with a game-high 34 minutes for 15 points, six rebounds and two assists on 6/10 shooting.

Tyrell Harrison might have been limited to 14 minutes with foul trouble but he was hugely influential with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks including a string of powerful two-handed throwdowns.

Teenager Next Star Rocco Zikarsky backed him up well too in 13 minutes for two points, four rebounds and two blocks.

In his return to Perth, Mitch Norton also led from the front with eight points, four assists and a number of important defensive plays that don't show up on the stat sheet, but go a long way in helping his team get a win. 

Sam McDaniel's impact on the result can't just be judged on his seven points, eight rebounds and two steals. He played outstanding defence to help restrict Perth superstar Bryce Cotton to 10 points on 3/19 shooting.

The contributions didn’t end there with Isaac White scoring seven points and DJ Mitchell locking in on defence adding  two rebounds and a block in 14 minutes.

The Bullets arrived in Perth on a mission and started the game in perfect fashion holding the Wildcats scoreless for more than the first three minutes.

Up the other end, Brisbane scored the first seven points of the game including a dream start with a driving layup to Mitch Norton in his first game back on his old home floor.

Tyrell Harrison then threw one down and Nathan Sobey hit a three ball to make it 7-0 and the Bullets weren’t done. They would go on another 7-0 run in the first quarter including a big throwdown from Rocco Zikarsky to suddenly lead 18-3.

The Bullets were still on top 20-9 by quarter-time and by the time Norton knocked down a three-pointer early in the second period, the lead was back out to double-digits.

Brisbane kept answering Perth's challenges the rest of the half with Isaac White and Chris Smith both completing three-point plays with the visitors leading 42-36 going into the break with 23 rebounds to 18, and shooting 47 per cent from the field to 38 from the 'Cats.

Norton opened the scoring to start the second half and it didn’t take long for the Bullets to blow the game wide open. They would go on a 17-2 run to turn a five-point lead into a 20-point advantage with a couple of three balls from Smith, and another to Sobey.

Brisbane was still leading 68-52 by three quarter-time and given their situation and playing at home in front of 10,481 Red Army fans, the Wildcats were always going to make a charge in the fourth quarter.

The 'Cats did hit back and went on an 11-0 run at one point to close to within three points, but the Bullets showed tremendous character and resilience to stem the tide.

It started with a strong finish from Josh Bannan, Harrison then rocked the rim once more and Brisbane answered that 11-0 run with a 9-4 one of their own which locked away the impressive five-point win.

Brisbane Bullets Hostplus Head Coach Justin Schueller couldn’t have been prouder of his team.

"It was a big game for us having dropped four, with two marquees out and we knew we had to come in here and play near a perfect game," he said.

"My initial thought is just pleasure in how the guys stuck to a plan, and found our advantages consistently throughout the night.

The Bullets now return home to Brisbane to prepare to host the Tasmania JackJumpers on Sunday at Nissan Arena.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 5

PERTH WILDCATS 79 (Pinder 22, C Webster 11, T Webster 11) 

BRISBANE BULLETS 84 (Sobey 17, Smith 16, Bannan 15)

BOX SCORE