The Gold Coast Blaze has moved top of the table and gone a step closer to claiming its first NBL title by downing the Perth Wildcats 86-73 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on Friday night.
The much-hyped first-versus-second clash was tight right up until the final buzzer but an inspired effort by Adam Gibson (23 points, eight assists) and Erron Maxey (19 points) saw Joey Wright's men put in a 29-point final term to crush Perth for the third time this season.
In front of the biggest home crowd (4,588) in its short history, Gold Coast trailed Perth at every break but strong defensive work restricted the Perth big men with Shawn Redhage top-scoring with just 13 points.
Maxey was a standout for the Blaze with eight defensive rebounds and strong support from Gibson and Anthony Petrie (15 points) helped Gold Coast to keep in touch with Perth during the early quarters.
The Wildcats got off to the best possible start during the first when Kevin Lisch (five points) hit the first three of the night.
James Harvey (five) hit straight back for the Blaze, but Perth continued to find the target and when Jesse Wagstaff (nine) nailed a huge triple from way outside the arc followed by a second a short time later, the away side had a six-point lead with five minutes left on the clock.
The strong start made by Perth kept Gold Coast chasing and important baskets from Martin Cattalini (11 points) and Redhage late in the quarter saw the league leader take a handy seven-point lead at the first break (23-16).
Gibson hit a three almost instantly to start the second quarter and the guard was involved a short time later when his good defensive pressure saw Perth turn the ball over and concede a basket on the break.
A second triple from Gibson pegged the Wildcats' lead back to four and when Galen Young's tough work on the offensive boards saw him pick up a technical foul, Gibson was sent to the line, missing the first but nailing the second.
Last week's overtime hero Maxey began to influence the court and his defensive work provided a quick transition for Gibson to snare his third triple of the quarter.
With less than a minute remaining Stephen Weigh bundled over Tyson Demos, and Perth was made to pay as Gold Coast regained possession on halfway and Demos found the ball hitting a triple to make it a three-point ball game (39-42).
Gibson made a huge 12-point contribution for the quarter and single-handedly helped the Blaze to keep the Wildcats in check.
The visitors snared two more before the major break to keep a five-point lead, with nine of the Wildcats' 10 players making scoreboard contributions at half-time.
Beginning the third Craig Bradshaw (six points) was sent to the free throw line nailing both. Baseline pressure from Petrie then forced a turnover and he layed-up to bring the Blaze to within one.
Damian Martin (12) and Weigh (nine) hit back with a triple each to keep Perth ahead but the Blaze kept pressing and when Chris Goulding (five) drove hard at the basket and got sent to the line, the former Wildcat made it count to bring the Blaze to within one with five minutes left on the clock.
Maxey gave Gold Coast the lead for the first time in the