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The Perth Wildcats have kept the Brisbane Bullets season in limbo, defeating the fourth placed visitors 85-72 at RAC Arena on Sunday.
Nick Kay and Bryce Cotton again led the way for Perth, Cotton with 25 points and Kay 23 points and 7 rebounds.
The first half was an even affair, Lamar Patterson dangerous for the Bullets along with Nathan Sobey and rising star Will Magnay.
Cotton and Kay were the enforcers for the Wildcats, Captain Damian Martin having an impact defensively in his first match since December 28th.
The Wildcats led by two at the half, Miles Plumlee with the opening two baskets of the second half to help extend the lead to six points.
Brisbane struggled to get any momentum as Perth came up with some clutch stops, Kay integral as he produced a long range bomb to give his team some breathing space.
A five point lead at three quarter time was extended in the last as Brisbane ran out of gas in their second game of the weekend, Clint Steindl draining three long range efforts to drown out any chance of a response.
Both Steindl and Bullets big man Matt Hodgson were fouled out in the final stages, but it mattered nil as Perth closed it out in front of their vocal home crowd.
The win was the Wildcats 19th from 27 games, almost certainly locking away second spot with a home game against Adelaide to round out the regular season.
Brisbane plays third placed Cairns in their final match, anxiously looking over their shoulder as Melbourne (Cairns and South East Melbourne) and New Zealand (South East Melbourne) look to pinch fourth spot in round 20.
PERTH 85 (Cotton 25, Kay 23, Steindl 14)
BRISBANE 72 (Patterson 25, Hodgson 11, Sobey 11)
IMAGE: NBL website.