Taipans defeat defending Champions

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans have taken down the defending Champions, the Tasmania JackJumpers 90-78 on Friday night – ending the visitors’ five-game winning streak at the Cairns Convention Centre.

After taking down the Adelaide 36ers last week, the Taipans reloaded with key piece Taran Armstrong, alongside Dillon Stith and Jackson Makoi who also returned to the line-up.

Entering the game with 18 points across his opening games in the league, import Pedro Bradshaw kicked off the night with the opening five points – which would go on to be the opening 17 points all credited to the import trio.

Checking in for his 50^th game on an NBL court, AK Gak made his presence known immediately – sending a shot from Anthony Drmic flying, before cleaning up a miss at the other end to open his account.

Pairing perfectly with guard Kyle Adnam, Gak put up the final six points of the opening quarter by the Taipans to give them a six-point lead at the break – taking advantage of star JackJumper import Jordan Crawford going 1-5 to open the game.

Also celebrating his own milestone game, Kyrin Galloway stepped onto the hardwood for his 100^th game in the league. In what would be a slow start to the second quarter by both teams, the forward hit back-to-back shots.

Linking up with centre Tanner Groves, the pair brought the energy and fought ferociously for boards – taking advantage of Tasmania struggling to tick their score over.

Inspired by the energy shown by their bigs, the Snakes brought the Convention Centre to life – firing off on a 13-0 with the Orange Army drowning out any support for the Tasmanians.

As the JackJumpers fought back, the Taipans continued to put a show on for their fans – with Sam Waardenburg blocking shots at one end, before an energised Taran Armstrong went upstairs to slam home more points at the other.

A casual fan would’ve thought that there was no half-time break, because when play resumed Waardenburg made it look like the show had never stopped – opening the half 8-0, capped off by a fastbreak dunk.

Led by their strong defensive intensity, the Snakes built their lead out to 24 points – not letting the Tasmanians loose in the open court with every player hustling to meet them at the basket.

With the lead built, the JackJumpers finally stood up – going on a run purely by working their way into the paint.

Struggling to retain the ball, the Taipans coughed up multiple possessions – allowing Tasmania to continue chipping away at the lead.

Burning his final timeout with 4:17 left on the clock, Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde challenged his team to stand up and fight in front of the Orange Army – a challenge they met.

Not letting Tasmania score another field goal for the remainder of the game, Edwards and Armstrong re-energised their fans – putting on 12 points to close out another home win for the Snakes.

The only Taipan to attempt double digit field goals, Armstrong led the team in his return – putting up 20 points at a remarkable 90% with five assists across his 29 minutes on the court.

Getting under the JackJumpers skin, Edwards drew seven fouls across the night on his way to 16 points, with 100-gamer Galloway putting up 14 points at 85% - continuing to lead the league in efficiency.

“I’m not the medical team’s favourite person at the moment, because we were supposed to cap Taran at 20 minutes, but it’s kinda hard not to put him out there when he’s plus 22,” explained Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde.

“At the end when it started to get a little bit away from us, you chuck Kyle in there and there were just these two-level heads that just had this real calm and influence to just finish out the game

“You can see the infancy stage of where we’re at, and the direction we’re going in. The boys get around each other, and it’s good.”

“I was so excited to play with these guys, and watching the performance last week was really good. They were great to watch, and I’m so thankful to be a part of this team and that the transition back in was seamless and that we had success,” said Taipans guard Taran Armstrong

“It’s tough to play here, and these fans are great. It’s something that I want to be a little bit more expressive this season – I want to show a little bit more personality and feed energy to the fans a little more. I want to show that I really do appreciate them and that I’m glad they come out, and pack it out the way they do.”

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans now travel south to battle the other NBL Grand Finalists from last season – Melbourne United – live on Channel 10 from 1:30pm this Sunday. They’ll return home to the Cairns Convention Centre to face the Perth Wildcats this Thursday night – don’t miss the action and grab your tickets HERE.