Round 11: Pinder sparks Taipans' comeback win

CQUniversity Cairns Taipans (91) def. Tasmania JackJumpers (82)
Round 11 | MyState Bank Arena
Next Game: Taipans v Wildcats, Tuesday 20 December 6:30pm AEST

SUMMARY

The Tasmania JackJumpers have become the masters of overrunning teams in NBL23 but the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans turned the tide on them sensationally on Saturday night at MyState Bank Arena for the 91-82 victory.

The Snakes delivered a stunning response after being down five with just over four minutes to play. to score the game's next 11 points and 16 of the last 18.

That turned a five-point deficit with just over four minutes to go into a statement nine-point victory on the road.

Jack McVeigh opened up the game with a three-pointer for Tasmania before DJ Hogg responded with three the old fashioned way for Cairns. Keanu Pinder was proving tough to stop down low but when McVeigh hit his second three, the home team remained narrow leaders.

Tasmania then also finished the first term strongly including late buckets to Clint Steindl and Rashard Kelly to head into quarter-time leading 24-21 on the back of 52 per cent shooting and despite the 10 points with eight free-throws from Pinder.

After a Steindl three to start the second period for Tasmania, Cairns worked back into it and it was about being aggressive going to the rim. Tahjere McCall made two trips to the line and Pinder was proving an unstoppable force.

However, the JackJumpers remained on top and Will Magnay even dropped a three ball. Josh Magette dropped two in succession soon after for a game-high nine-point lead.

Tasmania were still up 52-45 at the main break thanks to Kelly's three ball on the buzzer. Despite Pinder's 23 points for the Snakes and them going to the line 18 times as a team, the JackJumpers still shot 52 per cent to stay on top.

Pinder and Magnay traded buckets again to start the second half to continue that fascinating big man match up. McVeigh helped push Tasmania back out to a nine-point lead, though, after sitting out the second quarter.

The Snakes responded after an Adam Forde timeout and soon went on a run of scoring 11 consecutive points with the first seven of those courtesy of Hogg to give the visitors the lead once more.

Things stayed tight the rest of the third term with the JackJumpers clinging to a 72-71 advantage by three quarter-time.

The fourth quarter started with a massive block from Magnay on Pinder before the Taipans star responded with a rejection of his own on McVeigh. Scott then dropped a triple for the Snakes who grabbed the lead.

It was Tasmania's turn to respond and they did firstly through McVeigh and with a three-pointer from the cool head of Milton Doyle. McVeigh added another three soon after to put the JackJumpers up five, but it was all Cairns from there.

It started with Pinder's second three-pointer of the night before he and McCall combined for the next six points, and Bul Kuol completed the 11-0 run that took them from five down to six up with just over a minute to play.

The final dagger was delivered by Scott from long-range and Cairns delivered the mighty impressive nine-point win.

STATISTICS

It was Pinder's night for the Taipans. He scored the most points by any player this season, the most in his 78-game NBL career and the most by anybody against the JackJumpers. 

He finished with 34 points, seven rebounds and two blocks on shooting 11/17 from the field, 2/2 from deep and 10/10 at the free-throw line.

Tahjere McCall provided strong support with 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and maybe most tellingly zero turnovers and didn’t have his shot blocked once.

Shannon Scott provided that cool head and calming influence for the Taipans with 12 points and six assists while DJ Hogg added 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Bul Kuol added seven points and three rebounds as well, and Majok Deng four points and two rebounds.

STATEMENTS

Head Coach Adam Forde: 

"Defensively the guys spoke about it and Tahj really drove it, and we highlighted it at half-time and made some adjustments. Even in the fourth quarter with the timeouts, this is the cool thing about this group and especially with Tahj is a lot of it is player led and player driven. They take care of business. It was about getting it done on the defensive end and execute at the offensive end, and guys made some statement plays. Keanu's been tough, especially in that low block. We can sort of get our offence going with him and we knew they were going to make some adjustments in that second half with the double. When they did it was a quick kick out, ball reversal and Shannon Scott was wide open on the 45 for that knockdown three. His maturity in terms of picking his moments is growing day by day."

Taipans Star Tahjere McCall:

"We're just a family. When you go on the road you've got to bring your own energy and you have to trust each other, especially coming in here. This is a championship atmosphere and I don’t care what their record is or who's playing, they are going to make you win the game. We just want to be better for each other, we care about each other and the next man next to you. That's all that is, you have to pick up the brother next to you."