Perth Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson believes his team passed a massive test of character tonight after blowing a 20-point lead and then recovering to beat South East Melbourne Phoenix by one point in Victoria.

The Wildcats looked certain of victory after charging to the 20-point advantage during the third quarter as they dominated rebounds and Bryce Cotton ran hot.

But then the Phoenix started nailing three-point shots and they used the energy of their home crowd to draw level inside the final minute.

Cotton converted only one of his two free throws in the dying seconds and that gave the Phoenix 11 seconds to produce a match winning shot. But Perth defended strongly and Kyle Adnam missed his attempt.

“I thought it was really good for our character to get that,” Gleeson said.

“To be in that position and to hold on when the run of the game was going against us – we probably don’t have the experience we’ve had in the past from the changeover of personnel.

“We missed some lay-ups, it’d bounce out, we missed foul shots and there was a lot of stuff going against us so I was pretty happy with how the guys finished the game.”

The win lifted Perth to a 6-3 record and continued their unbeaten four-game streak in the NBL Cup.

Cotton scored 28 points and overcame a corked thigh during the third period. Gleeson said there were no indications Cotton’s injury would sideline him from Friday’s game against Brisbane.

John Mooney continued his brilliant year with 16 points and 11 rebounds, Todd Blanchfield scored 19 points and Mitch Norton was inspirational late as he repeatedly put his body on the line.

Adnam starred for the Phoenix with 28 points while Mitch Creek produced 19 points and eight rebounds.

But after watching his team get obliterated in rebounds throughout the first half, a frustrated Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell wasn’t interested in their comeback.

“It’s disappointing to dig that hole for ourselves and it’s all self-inflicted,” he said.

“When you play Perth, there are two things you cannot do under any circumstances – you can’t turn the ball over and you can’t miss out on box-outs,” he said.

“We just repeatedly self inflicted wounds in that first half. It was 12 offensive boards we’d given up at the half and we only had 10 rebounds. That’s disastrous for us.”