The Perth Wildcats consolidated second spot on the National Basketball League ladder, coming from behind to claim a 99-96 victory over the Illawarra Hawks on Wednesday night at WIN Entertainment Stadium.
American guard Jermaine Beal was the man of the hour for Perth, erupting for 14 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth period after the Wildcats had trailed by 11 at three-quarter time.
The Cats notched their third win over Illawarra in the past three weeks, boosting their NBL record to 6-2 ahead of Friday night's meeting with the NZ Breakers in Auckland.
The Hawks slip to 4-5 for the season and have a 10-day break before their round-seven road duel with the Adelaide 36ers.
Perth held a 28-26 quarter-time lead before Hawks guard Kevin Lisch rose to the occasion against his former side, scoring 12 points in the second period as his team took control with a 21-6 run to be up 59-51 at halftime.
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The Wildcats failed to make inroads in the third period before an inspired Beal masterminded their comeback in crunch time.
Forward Casey Prather added 19 points for Perth, while Matt Knight finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Lisch and centre AJ Ogilvy topped Illawarra with 25 points apiece and Kirk Penney chalked up 19.
