On Wednesday night, the JackJumpers and Perth Wildcats will force a Game 3 decider.

The Tasmania JackJumpers came into the game with a lot of anger in them, but Milton Doyle and Jack McVeigh’s poise helped them defeat the Perth Wildcats 102-94 and force a series decider in the Playoffs.

On Monday night, the Wildcats were trying to finish the series in Hobart. They led by as much as 12 points in the first half, but Doyle took the lead with 15 points in the third quarter.

Major contributions were made by McVeigh (22 points), Majok Deng (18 points), Sean Macdonald (12 points, five assists), and Will Magnay (15 points, seven rebounds, four assists) as Tasmania defeated Perth 55 to 42 in the second zone.

Tension increased throughout the weekend despite the thrilling first game in Perth, where the host team came out on top.

The Tasmanian centre Marcus Lee was given a one-game suspension by Sunday for an unsportsmanlike foul committed late in the game. The JackJumpers were not happy with the way the issue turned out.

On Monday night, 4340 people flocked to MyState Bank Arena to cheer on their side and ‘welcome’ the Wildcats. However, Perth quickly disregarded the crowd and took the lead with six straight baskets.

After Bryce Cotton made a three, the margin was 11–4, and the visitors continued to lead 29–21 after one after making 14 free throws to 1.

Perth had a 52-47 lead at the half, but Tasmania rallied for five points in the final seconds, led by captain Clint Steindl’s (seven) triple.

Star guards Cotton and Doyle performed admirably this time around after combining for just 27 points on 7 of 28 shooting in the first game.

Cotton, the four-time MVP, finished with 26 points for the Wildcats, while Doyle shot 4-of-9 from outside the arc for 24 points and six rebounds in the third quarter, setting a milestone.

As they gradually wore down the visitors, that allowed the JackJumpers to take the lead.

With six minutes remaining, Steindl hit another triple to give Tasmania a seven-point advantage. Macdonald then increased it to nine points, and they won by eight to force a decider.

Melbourne United and the Illawarra Hawks play in game three on the same day, and the winner of Wednesday night’s game in Perth will face them.