Brisbane overcome Cairns

Basketball fans across the country would’ve tuned in for the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans facing the Brisbane Bullets for the first time since early October, and to keep the rivalry alive and well, the visitors got the 84-79 edge at the Cairns Convention Centre on Friday night.

Offence was the focus for Cairns and Tahjere McCall top-scored with 29 points (four-of-six triples) as Pat Miller added 12, Waardenburg 11. Despite Brisbane leading by as much as 20 points early in the fourth quarter, Cairns managed to keep them to just seven points in the last six minutes and cut it down to a one-possession game.

Both teams returned from the FIBA break looking to snap their respective losing streaks, and the Bullets came at full strength for the first time and the Taipans down just one man, with Lachlan Anderson out with a recurring back injury.

The Taipans jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead as Tahjere McCall and Taran Armstrong all got on the board early, while Sam Waardenburg led all scorers with six points at the first break.

Cairns’ offensive objectives were front of mind as Bobi Klintman opened the second quarter with an exciting dunk off the fast break, followed by Tahjere McCall who hit two back-to-back threes.

The Bullets kept in touch though, and it was just a one-point difference at the half until they blew it out in the third quarter, scoring 25 points to the Taipans’ 12.

Both sides struggled to find any rhythm as 36 fouls were already called by the third-quarter break, both teams accumulating 12 turnovers each with 10 minutes still to play.

It almost looked over when the Bullets’ guards Chris Smith and Mitch Norton both hit threes to open the final term, however Bul Kuol and McCall responded immediately, and the pendulum seemed to swing the other way.

Taipans Jonah Antonio and Josh Roberts being injected into the game proved effective, as Antonio drew an Isaac White foul and Roberts was successful under the rim to reduce the margin to 10.

McCall had a three-point play to make it an eight-point game with two minutes remaining, before scoring Cairns’ only three-pointer of the entire second half.

Kuol continued to do his best damage on the defensive end and helped keep Brisbane to just seven points in the last six minutes, but 14 points from McCall in the fourth just wasn’t enough.

Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde conceded the game was lost in the third quarter, as the team continues to find their offensive footing.

“The third quarter – the ball stuck to one side, again. And that’s something we’re trying to address. Naturally, panic kicked in a little and we probably fell into old habits. We burned a couple of time outs trying to just realign everyone’s priorities.

"But, we miss some bunnies at the rim, we miss some foul shots and we’re struggling from three still.

"I know they went on that run which got them up 20 points. For us to bounce back, show some fight and bring it back to five points was good. But the costly errors from us? Brisbane did a great job of just running it out and exploiting us for it."