McCall inspires shorthanded Snakes to homecoming win

Tahjere McCall didn’t take long to win over the Orange Army in his first home game for the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans with him taking on the extra responsibility to lead the Snakes to a 69-62 Saturday night win over the Tasmania JackJumpers.

The Taipans were playing their first home game of the 2021/22 NBL season and it was also the return to the Cairns Convention Centre for the first time since winning Game 2 of the semi finals over the Perth Wildcats back in 2020.

Cairns ended up marking their return to the redeveloped venue with a seven-point win but it certainly did come the hard way.

The Snakes were already coming into the game missing key players Mirko Djeric and Jordan Ngatai before superstar point guard Scott Machado injured what appears to be a heel during the first quarter and didn't return to the floor.

What that meant was new Taipans import McCall had to take on deck being the main playmaker for the team on top of trying to score and living up to his reputation as a lockdown defender.

He delivered with the Snakes shaking off a six-point second quarter to hold the JackJumpers to six points in the third quarter before turning a six-point half-time deficit into a seven-point victory.

Despite 21 turnovers for the Taipans and losing the rebound battle, the aggressiveness on offence to attack the basket proved pivotal in the win. Cairns ended up getting to the foul line for 30 free-throw attempts to just 14 for the JackJumpers despite Tasmania remarkably attempting 24 extra field goals.

It was McCall who became an instant favourite for the Taipans fans purely through his infectious energy and hustle. He finished the night with 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.

Kouat Noi continued his strong start to #NBL22 with 17 points and five rebounds with Jarrod Kenny adding eight points and five boards, Majok Deng six points and six rebounds, Stephen Zimmerman five points and 12 boards, Nate Jawai five points, and Bul Kuol three points and two rebounds.

Taipans coach Adam Forde marked his first game in charge at home with the win, and he was proud of their response in the second half.

"We went down to the change room and the turnovers was one of those things we addressed," Forde said.

"It was about playing ball. Taj led the way and the boys followed him. I was finding it hard to not sub him out so we used some timeouts and breaks in the game. t was a really inspiring effort to show some heart. 

"Give credit to the guys. I've called everybody in during the preseason and the season and at some point, I've asked for more. I can go through this entire list and praise everyone on the roster because I'm so proud of them. Now they've set the standard [defensively], I'll expect this every week. And I think they can do that."

The Taipans will be taking a wait and see approach on Machado's injury as well.

"With Scott obviously we won't jump ahead of ourselves too soon. It is about getting some scans in," Forde added.

"The initial assessment is it isn't overly severe. But we won't know anything until we get some scans and start working on a timeline."

It was a blistering start from the Taipans to mark the return to the Cairns Convention Centre. They scored the first four points thanks to Kouat Noi and Tahjere McCall, and soon led 8-4 with another basket to McCall and Scott Machado joining in.

Machado then put Cairns up 10-4 before Tasmania called for time and they did get the response they were after with the next eight points of the game afterwards.

McCall scored, though, to stem the tide with a three-point play. Despite Machado hobbling from the court, the Taipans did finish the opening term well and when Jarrod Kenny scored, the home team led 22-21.

The going was tough in the second term though for the Snakes. Machado was unable to get back on the floor with his lower leg complaint. 

The Taipans did fight hard and were solid enough defensively to hold the JackJumpers to 13 points, but they could only manage six themselves with Tasmania leading 34-28 at the half.

It took more than two minutes for either team to score in the second half, but it was the Taipans who scored first thanks to an and-one bucket from Noi to make it a three-point ball game.

Noi then soon after put Cairns back in front on the back of brilliant hustle on the offensive glass from McCall. Noi remained aggressive and scored again inside to put the Taipans up three with the JackJumpers calling timeout halfway through the third period.

The Snakes continued to do well on the offensive glass and Stephen Zimmerman scored on a putback before a breakaway dunk from Majok Deng saw the lead grow to seven with the JackJumpers still having scored just two points deep into the half.

Rookie Bul Kuol then drained a three to stretch the lead to 11 before still leading by seven at three quarter-time with that advantage back out to seven early in the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to Jarrod Kenny.

Every time the JackJumpers threatened to get back within striking distance, the Taipans had the answers including Deng knocking down his first three of the night to make it a double-digit margin.

Kenny did the same soon after and the Taipans celebrated their homecoming with the seven-point triumph.

The Taipans remain at home to host the Adelaide 36ers next Saturday night back at Cairns Convention Centre.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 2

CQUNIVERSITY CAIRNS TAIPANS 69 (McCall 20, Noi 17, Kenny 8)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 62 (Magette 19, Steindl 13, Adams 9) 

BOX SCORE