Taipans fall to United at home

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans have gone down 113-97 to Melbourne United at Cairns Convention Centre on Saturday night.

The visitors fired in the third quarter surge, outscoring the Taipans 34-19, led by Josh Oduro and Cole Anthony, for their 16-point victory.

Oduro had a game-high 26 points and six rebounds, while Anthony added 25 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Jack McVeigh never stopped trying for the home side, finishing with a team-high 19 points, with seven assists and four rebounds.

Keanu Pinder started in great touch, but foul trouble limited the big man to 16 points and five rebounds.

Cairns started on fire, Jaylon Brown stealing the ball on the opening play of the game for a layup, then back-to-back three-pointers from Pinder and then McVeigh opened a 12-3 lead.

The home side led for the entire first half, but United started to get back into the contest through Oduro, Melbourne finished the second quarter on a 7-2 run as Cairns took a 54-51 lead into the main interval.

The visitors went on a 14-2 run across the end of the second and start of the third quarter for a 63-57 lead.

Melbourne’s lead increased to as much as 19 points with an Anthony jump shot at 94-75 in the fourth quarter, but the Taipans fought back to cut the lead to nine points on the back of a 13-3 run.

But a Joe Ingles three-pointer, his fourth of the night without a miss, ended the fightback.

SECOND HALF STUMBLE

After a scintillating opening 20 minutes, Cairns took a three-point lead into half-time, and that advantage should have been more.

Forcing turnovers, making extra passes to create open shots, it was Taipans basketball at its best.

But after the main break, United took over the contest, shutting down the Cairns offence and generating easy looks as the Taipans had to chase back into the game.

Melbourne took the lead for the first time after a Luke Travers three-pointer and never relinquished the lead for the rest of the contest.

BENCH SHOWS IMPACT

Kyrin Galloway was a spark for the home side, scoring 11 points, while Reyne Smith also added 11 points.

Galloway had increased minutes due to the foul trouble to Pinder and Jonah Bolden, while Smith had extra minutes after an injury forced Jaylin Galloway from the floor after just seven minutes.

Shaun Bruce also tried as the home side made a late charge, combining eight points with six assists.

Bolden continued his hot form early, but picked up four fouls as well, but had seven points and seven rebounds.

ODURO MAKES PRESENCE

Oduro was huge for United across the full four quarters, making his presence felt at both ends of the court.

The 206cm centre was altering shots at the defensive, while also drawing fouls in the paint, causing the Taipans to get into big foul trouble.

He was the only United player to make an impact in the opening stanza, scoring 10 points to keep the visitors in the game.

Oduro, along with Anthony, lived at the free throw line as Pinder fouled out in only 18 minutes on the floor.

WHAT’S NEXT

Cairns are back at home on Thursday night when the Taipans host the Illawarra Hawks at the Cairns Convention Centre at 6.30pm.

Make sure you grab your tickets, click HERE to reserve your spot.
‍
‍MELBOURNE UNITED 113 (Oduro 26, Anthony 25, Ingles 16) def CAIRNS TAIPANS 97 (J McVeigh 19, Pinder 16, Smith 11, Galloway 11) at the Cairns Convention Centre.

BOX SCORE