Snakes farewell pop-up with stunning fightback win

Heart, character and spirit were the order of the night as the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans delivered the most remarkable of comeback victories to beat the South East Melbourne Phoenix 94-87 at the Pop-Up Arena.

It was an unexpected one final home match for the Taipans at the pop-up with the Phoenix coming to town thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria, but they brought with them an impressive four-game winning streak.

South East Melbourne was anchored in third spot too so it was a significant challenge ahead of the Taipans, made all that tougher with Mojave King fresh off a career-best 25 points on Wednesday joining Fabijan Krslovic, Kouat Noi and Cam Oliver as the outs for the Snakes.

The Snakes came out ready to try to send the Orange Army fans happy for the season, though, and that started when Jordan Ngatai caught with 10 early points. But the Phoenix were shooting the lights out and what point were hitting 10/14 from downtown to lead by as much as 16.

South East Melbourne still led 81-69 with just over seven minutes of the game remaining, btu the game underwent the most dramatic of turns from there with Cairns scoring 23 of the next 27 points to stun the Phoenix.

Mirko Djeric proved himself the hero as he hit four three-pointers in the space of three minutes to turn an eight-point deficit into a four-point lead in that period. He finished with 16 points for the game.

Majok Deng was terrific all night too for Cairns with 22 points and three assists while Jordan Ngatai continued his best NBL season with 14 points on 4/8 shooting from three-point land.

Tad Dufelmeier also had 14 points and five assists, Scott Machado 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, George Blagojevic six points, three boards and two steals, Nate Jawai six points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Jarrod Kenny three points and two steals.

Taipans coach Mike Kelly was delighted with the result for a whole host of reasons.

"It was great. The guys stayed with it and I'm super happy for them to get some payoff and see what getting some stops does, and obviously we made some shots so it was a lot of fun for the crowd out there," Kelly said.

"I always thought it was still possible for us to do something like that. I still think we are going to win every game we play if we play to our capabilities, and if we do that we'll give ourselves a chance. I never feel like we are down and out, but I didn’t say with 12 down in the fourth that we've got this.

"These guys did, though, so that was good. That was great from Mirko obviously. It was Jordan early who got us going and we had a few guys shoot the ball well, but then Mirko hit some shots, some timely shots and that was the game in the end."

It was a hot start from Jordan Ngatai for the Taipans as he took on that extra responsibility with Mojave King joining Fabijan Krslovic, Cam Oliver and Kouat Noi as those missing now for the rest of the season for the Snakes.

A four-point play shortly after from Ngatai gave him 10 early points and put Cairns on top 14-12 which soon became a 21-14 edge thanks to buckets from Scott Machado and Tad Dufelmeier, and a three ball from Majok Deng.

While the Phoenix finished the opening term on an 8-3 streak, Cairns was still leading 24-22 by quarter-time and then moved further ahead again during the second term. 

Another three-pointer from Deng and then basket from Dufelmeier helped Cairns out to a 40-34 lead heading towards half-time, but South East Melbourne knew what was at stake as they scored 12 of the last 14 points of the half to lead the Taipans 47-44 at the break.

The Phoenix just simply couldn’t miss from beyond the arc for the opening six minutes of the second half knocking down five triples to extend their lead to 14.

But the Taipans weren’t going away and a couple of buckets to George Blagojevic, and then three balls to Jarrod Kenny and Dufelmeier kept the Snakes within 10 by three quarter-time.

Despite a couple of threes to start the fourth quarter from Machado, the Phoenix were still in control with seven minutes remaining leading 81-69.

The game then took a remarkable turn beginning with a 6-0 run for the Snakes through Deng and Dufelmeier. It was then Mirko Djeric time. Sensing the occasion to send the Orange Army away happy this season, he hit two quick threes to make it a two-point ball game.

He then hit again to bring the Snakes back within one before Deng made the most of a perfect assist from Yanni Wetzell who saved the ball from out of bounds. Deng hit the mid-range jumper to put Cairns on top with two minutes left.

Djeric then all but sealed the deal with his fourth three-point bomb in four minutes to put Cairns up four with 1:14 to go. Dufelmeier and Ngatai sealed the deal at the foul line before Deng threw down a two-handed slam for the seven-point Cairns win.

The Taipans will now play Melbourne United in Sydney on Monday before finishing their #NBL21 season away to the New Zealand Breakers two days later.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 20

CQUNIVERSITY CAIRNS TAIPANS 94 (Deng 22, Djeric 16, Ngatai 14, Dufelmeier 14) 

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 87 (Wetzell 25, Creek 13, Sykes 12)

BOX SCORE