Round 18: Full of heart Taipans win out west

CQUniversity Cairns Taipans (84) def. Perth Wildcats (71)
Round 18 | RAC Arena 
Next Game: TBD

SUMMARY

The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans produced a performance full of heart and character to snap a 10-game losing run against the Perth Wildcats to close the regular season with the 84-71 victory at RAC Arena.

After losing at home to Adelaide on Monday night, Cairns' destiny of finishing second was no longer in their own hands. 

Throw in the fact they were missing Keanu Pinder, Tahjere McCall and Mirko Djeric, and they were playing in front of 11,668 fans in The Jungle against a Wildcats team needing to win for their own playoff hopes, and things were stacked against the Snakes.

Nobody told that to Adam Forde and his men though. In fact, Forde was yet to record a victory as an NBL head coach against his hometown team coming just to top things off.

What the Snakes did was put up the best first quarter of any visiting team in RAC Arena this season to lead 30-16. They were still up 12 at half-time and eight at three quarter-time.

The Taipans continued to have all the answers and six straight points from DJ Hogg midway through the fourth quarter and five from Shannon Scott was enough for the visitors to win by 13.

The Taipans arrived in Perth minus Keanu Pinder and Mirko Djeric, and then Tahjere McCall was ruled out before the game, but it didn’t stop the visitors making a flying start.

DJ Hogg, Sam Waardenburg and Bul Kuol helped them to a 10-4 start and they pulled away again outscoring the Wildcats 17-7 heading into quarter-time including a pair of late triples from Majok Deng. 

That saw Cairns up 30-16 and Lat Mayen knocked down a three early in the second quarter as well as part of a 7-2 run for Cairns. The Taipans maintained their double-digit lead all the way to half-time where they led 49-37. 

TaShawn Thomas almost single-handedly brought the 'Cats back within six points in the third quarter but the Taipans did well to respond with a 9-2 run to still lead 64-56 advantage at three quarter-time.

Perth defensive lapses allowed Mayen to hit a three and then Jonah Antonio to score to put Cairns back on top 10 with eight minutes to go.

Scott pushed that Taipans lead out to 14, Deng pushed it to 16 and there would be no comeback with the Taipans winning in Perth for the first time since October 18, 2019.

STATISTICS

It's Cairns' first win over Perth since Game 2 of the semi finals in 2020, coach Adam Forde's first in his third season as a head coach and it means they will finish NBL23 with an 18-10 record. 

They will stay second and be straight into the semi finals unless New Zealand beats the Bullets in Brisbane on Saturday. Should the Breakers win, the Taipans finish third and go into the play-in tournament starting next week.

It was a brilliant defensive performance from the Taipans starting with 51 rebounds to 40, including 16 to eight at the offensive end for 19 second chance points. 

They also scored 16 points from the 15 Perth turnovers and limited the 'Cats to shooting 35 per cent from the floor and 5/19 from deep.

Bul Kuol ended up top-scoring for Cairns with 15 points to go with nine rebounds with Majok Deng delivering the first double-double of his 197-game NBL carer with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

DJ Hogg added 14 points and four boards, Ben Ayre 10 points and four rebounds, Shannon Scott nine points and four assists, and Sam Waardenburg nine points and seven rebounds.

Lat Mayen also had eight points and four rebounds and Jonah Antonio five points and six boards after his first career start with the Taipans finishing with 32 points off the bench to four from the Wildcats.

STATEMENTS

Head Coach Adam Forde: 

"We needed a bit of momentum and momentum means a couple of things, right. Obviously the win because we've had our injuries and have been a bit hit and miss, but momentum also just for guys to get a bit of touch, to rotate into our bench and Jonah was great, Lat was great, Majok was great, so was Ben. Everyone stepped up off the bench. I feel like we talked a lot of boxes with that momentum. We can use that and hopefully now we just sit back and see what Brisbane can get done at their joint against New Zealand. And either we're preparing for a play-in Thursday or Friday next week or we have a bit of time off to rest some sore bodies."

Taipans Point Guard Shannon Scott:

"It's really big for us. We have a couple of guys with some little injuries, but clearly we all can come into the game and have an impact. Everyone did their job tonight and that makes me really happy. I mean, honestly Jonah came in and started the game playing big. He never stopped playing defence or trying to rebound the ball. Lat did the same thing, Majok came in and was a big spark for us, he had 14 and 11. Everybody can come in and do something which makes us a better team."