Tigers tear Wildcats apart

The Melbourne Tigers have inflicted yet another defeat on the Perth Wildcats today with a comfortable 91-73 win at Challenge Stadium in Perth.

Rashad Tucker led the charge for the Tigers with a match winning 26 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Dave Thomas was just behind on 20 points, while former Olympian Chris Anstey netted 13 points and David Stiff collected 13 rebounds.

Best for the home side were Shawn Redhage, with 15 points and nine rebounds, Paul Rogers (11 points) and new point-guard David Bailey who collected nine rebounds and eight assists while finding the net in the last term for six points.

It was the Tigers third consecutive win in Perth, following two wins here last season. Earlier this month the two teams battled out for an overtime win in Melbourne, on that night the Tigers managed to find a get out of jail card, today however that card was out of the Wildcats reach today.

Perth began the afternoon match perfectly with the first basket to their new skipper Tony Ronaldson from the top of the keyway, new recruit Dillon Boucher made it 5-1 after three minutes, however that's where the Tigers stepped up with Anstey and Tucker taking the game away from the home side.

Melbourne led at the first break 22-19, by the main interval it was out to 48-32. Tucker, Anstey and Dave Thomas were already into double figures while the best the home side had was Liam Rush on eight. Torment for Perth as Tucker was snapping up rebounds at relative ease with Darryl McDonald also helping with several assists.

Melbourne's dominance continued after half time as Thomas netted 10 points in the Tigers 27-13 third quarter. Redhage and Crawford tried in vain to stop the rot. The Tigers led 74-45 with a quarter to play and were narrowly outscored in the final term.

Scott Fisher when asked to describe the performance, "Lame, hard to get a handle on. I really do believe they want to win."

Peter Crawford was along side Fisher and was asking about the let down of losing another game at home, "Yeah it hurts, have to grind it out until we can turn it around."

Next week, the Wildcats head for a double against Hunter and Wollongong beginning on Friday in Newcastle. The Tigers take on, reigning triple champions, the Sydney Kings on Saturday night at the Cage.

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!