Melbourne United were denied a championship last season through late game execution but a perfectly run play for Chris Goulding saw them overcome the Perth Wildcats 113-112 in Game 3 of their remarkable NBL Playoff Series.
United wanted to be better in those clutch situations with games on the line this season. For the third time after wins during the regular season over Sydney and New Zealand, it has paid off.
It has them as the first team into the Championship Series after Rob Loe took the inbounds pass at John Cain Arena, got it to Matthew Dellavedova (10 points, 11 assists) and he found Goulding under the basket who was fouled by Ben Henshall (nine points, four assists).
Goulding made the first free-throw and deliberately missed the second with 0.8 left and Melbourne won one of the most incredible Game 3 deciding games in NBL history by that solitary point.
Goulding finished with 30 points on 9/12 three-point shooting while Ian Clark had the best performance of his NBL career too with 38 points on 14/19 shooting from the field and 6/9 from deep.
They needed that as well because the Wildcats brought all the momentum into Game 3 after their remarkable Game 2 comeback at RAC Arena on Saturday night, and received 37 points, 10 rebounds and five assists from Kristian Doolittle, and 33 points and six assists from Bryce Cotton.
It was a remarkable spectacle all evening from both teams with the Wildcats leading 37-26 by quarter-time after 16 points from Cotton while Goulding made all six of his threes in the first half despite Perth still being up 62-58 at the half.
The second half was a rollercoaster ride with Jack White scoring all 15 of his points for Melbourne to go with nine rebounds before United did look in control up five with a minute to go.
It was Cotton firstly and then six-time championship winning games record holder Jesse Wagstaff who hit the three with 2.9 seconds left that tied scores up before Melbourne prevailed on that last possession execution.
Sometimes tension takes over in a deciding Game 3 and it turns into a grind, but United and the Wildcats put on a remarkable shooting display.
Perth got off to a 15-6 start including three balls to Kristian Doolittle, Keanu Pinder and Bryce Cotton.
Melbourne responded with three balls of their own to Ian Clark and Chris Goulding, but then Cotton got on a roll for the first time in the series with the five-time MVP putting up 16 points in the opening period.
The Wildcats scored 37 as a team to be up by 11 at quarter-time on the back of shooting 75 per cent from the field opposed to the 50 from Melbourne.
Clark then did his best to shoot United back into the contest with his own personal 9-0 run early in the second frame but the Wildcats continued to have the answers with Doolittle unstoppable inside the arc.
He went on to score 17 points in the first half but Goulding returned to the floor to make four more triples before half-time to make all six of his attempts for 20 points, but United only briefly managed to lead.
The Wildcats finished the half on an 8-3 run to see them leading 62-58 by the break with the teams combining to shot 42/72 from the field and 18/35 from downtown.
After a scoreless first half, Jack White sparked Melbourne to open the second with nine quick points including a pair of three balls and shaking off his free-throw woes to hit one at the stripe.
Clark continued his season-best night too with six quick points to help Melbourne to a four-point lead and United was clinging to a three-point lead by three quarter-time thanks to another triple from White.
The game, and series, deserved a grandstand finish and got it. Goulding hit a couple more threes early in the fourth but Doolittle was proving unstoppable up the other end and when he hit a fourth three, Perth were up 105-102 with 3:45 to play.
Goulding then made a ninth triple and then United broke the game open with seven straight points but still Perth got it back firstly through Cotton and then Jesse Wagstaff's three after the 'Cats secured three offensive rebounds.
However, Melbourne's late game execution once again came to the fore and they now await either the Illawarra Hawks or the South East Melbourne Phoenix in the Championship Series.