MELBOURNE - Gold Coast coach Joey Wright says his Australian National Basketball League team can lay claim to being championship contenders after toppling leaders Perth twice in succession.
After reeling in a 20-point deficit to down the Wildcats last weekend, they backed it up by handing Perth their first home
defeat on Saturday night, an 82-78 result at Challenge Stadium.
Wright said the double would do a lot for their confidence.
"That team is one of the teams that will be around at the end of the year looking to challenge for a championship," he said.
"So to be able to beat them in a two-game series and on their home court where they're very tough, gives us the feeling that we can compete with the best teams in the league."
The Blaze were well served by former Wildcats pair James Harvey and Chris Goulding, Harvey topscoring with 20 points, including four of six from three-point range, while Goulding shot four of eight from beyond the arc.
That pair's post-match celebrations provoked an angry reaction from the Wildcats, sparking a scuffle between the two sides.
"They were celebrating in the middle of the court and a couple of the Perth guys didn't like it, but no punches were thrown or anything like that," Wright said.
The result gave the Blaze - wooden spooners last season - three consecutive wins for the first time this season, and helped them to fourth place, with the top six teams all now on seven victories.
Wright felt they were as big a chance as any of going all the way.
"I do feel like we are and probably six other teams or seven other teams are as well, really the bottom can beat the top. That ladder doesn't matter, it's going to come down to the crunch at the end of the year and that's what's great about the league.
"Who knows who's going to win the championship? You just don't have a clue. I've been around playing basketball since I was 7 and I'm 41 now and I can't pick a winner."
In other results this round, Adelaide thrashed Wollongong 82-59 midweek, but fell 100-88 to Townsville on Friday night.
The New Zealand Breakers downed Cairns 94-77 on Thursday night, to leave the Taipans in seventh spot, with one fewer win than the top six.
- AAP
