Kristian Doolittle and Jo Lual-Acuil have both fired as the Perth Wildcats resisted a late challenge to continue their NBL finals push with a 98-84 win over Cairns.
The Wildcats’ 14-point fourth-quarter lead was slashed to three with plenty of time left at RAC Arena on Friday night.
But the home side steadied and veteran forward Jesse Wagstaff shut the gate when he wound back the clock with a spin through traffic and huge dunk.
Doolittle put the finishing touches on the Wildcats’ third-straight win with a late triple, taking his personal tally to a season-high 32 points.
The result lifted Perth (19-11) above Melbourne United (18-11) into fourth spot in a tight race for best position in the finals.
Jo Lual-Acuil (27 points) was also influential and Dylan Windler had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
It was just the third time this season Doolittle and Lual-Acuil had both scored 20-plus points.
The star pair combined for 34 points in the first half, helping the Wildcats to a 50-40 lead at the main break on the back of a big second period.
But Doolittle conceded in a broadcast interview that Cairns had played harder to that point, urging his teammates to lift their defensive intensity.
They struggled to shake the plucky Taipans, who did not lead after half-time but stayed within striking distance.
Andrew Andrews had a shot to tie the scores with less than four minutes left on the clock, but it rattled out and the Wildcats kept their noses in front to notch an important victory.
Andrews (25 points), Mojave King (21) and Jack McVeigh (18) were influential in keeping Cairns in the contest until the final stages.
The Taipans (8-21) remain second from bottom, ahead of a clash with last-placed Brisbane on Sunday.