Taipans fall short to Adelaide in overtime

Kicking off their first road double header this season, the Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans have fallen to the Adelaide 36ers, 99-93 in overtime on Friday night.

Entering Round 6 once more without two of their starters, Cairns walked into the Adelaide Entertainment Centre looking to repeat their Round 2 performance against the 36ers.

Starting slowly out of the gates with both teams combining to hit only one of seven shots, the Taipans looked to share the ball around – leading to a series of trips down the floor where they ticked over the scoreboard every time.

Continuing their focus on taking advantage of misses on each end of the court, Cairns crashed the boards hard early.

Led by forwards Pedro Bradshaw and Sam Waardenburg who alone outrebounded the 36ers early in the contest, they were able to hit their second chance shots and build a narrow lead.

After sharing the scoring, the focus quickly turned to firing up Rob Edwards who was able to cruise past the Adelaide defence and put up a quick series of points – handing his side a six-point lead at the first break.

Returning for his second game against the Taipans, Montrezl Harrell once more looked like the key for the home side in their quest to reduce the lead.

Without Groves to defend him, the center led the 36ers into the second quarter – scoring the opening seven points for Adelaide to force a timeout from Cairns.

Re-energised by their Head Coach, the Taipans returned to the court ready to pounce back - hitting back-to-back threes and rebuilding their lead whilst Harrell continued to go to work at the other end.

However, the forward wasn’t able to keep up with the sharpshooting Edwards, who combined with Dillon Stith to light up the scoreboard from outside the arc – making up for the loss of Bradshaw who left the game after landing awkwardly on his ankle.

Eager to join the party was Kyrin Galloway, with the league’s most efficient three-point shooter lighting up from range himself.

Entering the main break with a 16-point lead, the Taipans dominated the shooting – hitting 11 three-point shots at 57%, compared to only 23% for Adelaide – whilst also comfortably outrebounding the 36ers 26-11.

After returning to the court for the second half, Adelaide looked like a brand-new team and raised their energy to quickly reduce Cairns’ lead.

Dropping the lead to seven points early on, it looked like the fixture was setup for a close finish before Waardenburg stepped up to hit his own shot from deep, shortly after notching up a double-double.

Running on limited breaks, Harrell looked to keep his side in the game whilst on his way to 36 points – slowly inching the 36ers closer as the clock wound down.

Working hard to keep the ball out of Edward’s hands, Adelaide locked down hard on the defensive end, allowing them to inch ahead in the final minute of the game.

Dialling in from distance, Kendric Davis built a narrow three-point lead that was quickly slashed back with a layup by Waardenburg, with an and-one to tie the game at the end of regulation.

Still hustled out of handling the ball, Edwards struggled to keep up with Davis and the 36ers who fired out to a quick six-point lead as the free basketball began.

Putting up all five of the Taipans’ overtime points, the Cairns guard was unable to lead his squad to a late win – ending his night with 27 points, six rebounds and 5 assists.

Fouling out early in overtime, Sam Waardenburg was also a key piece for the visitors and put up 18 of his own points, along with an impressive 14 rebounds.

Joining him in the paint was AK Gak, who continued to excel with 14 points and two blocks to his name despite dislocating his finger early in the second half.

“The boys played their hearts out - I get on them about some stuff, but tonight was not one of those nights,” said Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde.

“There’s something cool about a team bonding experience, to come into a hostile environment, knowing we’re down a few bodies, knowing we’ve got our backs against the wall, and that just adds to the spirit of the group.

“Are we better than we were in Round 1 and Round 2? Yeah, 100%, and when Taran comes back we’re going to be better for it.

“Jackson answered the call. As we enter this first season with each other, I’m learning about what makes him tick, and he didn’t sulk – he was great. This week he stepped up and was one of the biggest voices in our film review, and was one of the biggest leaders on court.”

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans now travel into Melbourne to face United on their home court, before returning home for the Queensland derby. They’ll host the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday 2 November at 7:00pm – tickets available HERE.