Taipans fall to Phoenix in Melbourne

Mirko Djeric caught fire late in the piece and Nate Jawai had his moments but ultimately it wasn’t a night to remember for the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Friday night in Melbourne.

The Taipans returned to John Cain Arena to take on a Phoenix team sitting in third position on the NBL ladder on the back of a thumping win over the New Zealand Breakers on Wednesday night, but this time the start wasn’t necessarily the issue.

Unlike during the last meeting in Cairns between the two teams when the Phoenix shot out of the blocks and the Taipans were playing catch up the whole way, the Snakes started off by keep pace this time and were even in front for a couple of minutes to start the second quarter

But it couldn’t quite last and South East Melbourne would go on to lead by 12 points at half-time, 27 at three quarter-time and end up with the 106-77 victory that maintained their hold on third spot of the NBL table.

Being outrebounded 42 to 28 didn’t help Cairns' cause with 16 offensive boards for the Phoenix for 27 second chance points.

Mirko Djeric hit 3/5 from three-point range for the Taipans to end up top-scoring with 17 points to go with three assists while Nate Jawai had 10 points on 4/6 shooting. But he only played 10 minutes and the six field goals wasn’t quite enough for him to have a significant impact.

Scott Machado added nine points, two rebounds and two steals while Majok Deng contributed nine points and three boards, Venky Jois six points and four rebounds, and Fabijan Krslovic six points and a steal.

Mojave King added five points and three rebounds, George Blagojevic four points and four boards, and Tad Dufelmeier two points, four assists and three rebounds.

Understandably Taipans coach Mike Kelly was still trying to digest the performance afterwards.

"I am still trying to figure that out, it was disappointing. South East Melbourne came out with great energy in the last three quarters and ran over the top of us. We didn't give a lot of fight defensively," Kelly said.

"All year it has been hard lessons. We have been through ups and downs in Cairns the last three years. All we preach, and all the people of Cairns care about, is that these guys go out and play as hard as they can. First and foremost, that is what we will focus on."

Nate Jawai started strongly for Cairns with a couple of early buckets and the Snakes kept pace with South East Melbourne in the opening minutes with a basket as well to Scott Machado and then a three ball to Mojave King.

Cairns still stayed in touch with Jawai scoring again and then Jordan Ngatai connecting from deep before George Blagojevic kept them just within a point by quarter-time of the Phoenix.

The Snakes then took the lead to start the second term courtesy of a Majok Deng three ball and they maintained that with a couple of scores to Venky Jois. Things were still tight with a couple of scores to Deng and King as well midway through the quarter.

But the Phoenix then went on a 9-0 to open up a double-digit lead and they managed to go into half-time with a 12-point edge over the Taipans.

Cairns did open the second half with a Machado three-point play, but that'd be as good as it got after half-time for the Snakes. The Phoenix scored 12 of the next 14 points with a pair of threes from ex-Taipan Cam Gliddon before the home team went on another 9-0 streak to lead by 26.

The lead had grown to 27 by three quarter-time and then unfortunately for Cairns, South East Melbourne came out to hit the first 11 points of the final quarter too before Majok Deng steadied the ship with a three-pointer.

Mirko Djeric hit another three bombs of his own to close out the game but the Phoenix still downed the Taipans to the tune of 29 points.

The Taipans return home to host the second placed Perth Wildcats now on Monday night at Cairns Pop-Up Arena.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 18

CQUNIVERSITY CAIRNS TAIPANS 77 (Djeric 17, Jawai 10, Machado 9, Deng 9) 

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 106 (Creek 20, Sykes 16, Te Rangi 14)

BOX SCORE