Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie has praised the newly found composure of his team, saying the way they put disappointment and frustration behind them was a feature of their win over South East Melbourne Phoenix on Friday night.

The Wildcats won 92-88 at RAC Arena to reverse the 21-point defeat from round one, despite being without Jo Lual-Acuil and Brandon Knight. But it was the way they responded to emotional moments which impressed Rillie the most.

Perth led 84-81 with three minutes remaining when Angus Glover intercepted a pass from Kristian Doolittle to Dylan Windler. The Phoenix star took off and was on his way to the basket when Doolittle committed a foul in an attempt to slow him down.

But that resulted in a disruptive foul being called, which gave the visitors two free throws and possession. It was also Doolittle’s fourth foul.

The Wildcats have previously struggled to recover from emotional mistakes or controversial fouls, but they took control and won the game. Rillie said it was an important moment for them to reflect upon.

“We’re trying to figure out who we are. We still don’t know who we are, but the way the way we’ve been composed compared to week one is encouraging. Tonight, they got that disruptive foul and previously we’ve reacted a little different to those moments. Tonight we just moved on, went from there, and we finished the game well,” he explained.

“I hope we’re just all understanding what that moment looks like and how reacting (the right way) in certain tones, (has an) impact and influence. I think the group has a level of trust as we fight through this and figure out who we are. We handled ourselves in those moments.”

Perth’s ability to handle the pressure late in the game was also telling. The match came down to free throws as the Phoenix repeatedly sent the Wildcats to the charity stripe but the players held their nerve.

Perth have made 53 of their 60 free throws across their three wins. Youngster Anthony Dell’Orso, who started the run of free throws late in the match said the squad had shown they can handle that late pressure.

“Pep stepped up, made some big ones too,” he said.

“Windler made some big ones. It was a full team effort. It wasn’t just one guy that had one shining moment. I was just great to see everyone contribute.”