Taipans finish NBL Cup with fighting effort v Phoenix

The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans weren’t quite able to end their time in Melbourne at the NBL Cup victorious but there was a lot to like about the performance against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

While the Phoenix ended up winning 85-81 at John Cain Arena on Friday night, it was a spirited fightback from the Taipans after falling 15 points down late in the third quarter.

It was a similar story two days ago against New Zealand with Cairns showing heart to fightback from being down 19 points to draw level as time was running out before losing on the buzzer.

It was a similarly nail-biting loss on Friday with the Snakes getting back within two points of the Phoenix on the back of a run of seven straight points with just over a minute left before the Phoenix did enough at the line to win after a big Cam Gliddon bucket against his old team.

The result means that the Taipans end their time at the NBL Cup with two wins from the eight games, but that doesn’t tell the story of their competitiveness. The two games the last three days certainly could have gone either way as could have a narrow defeat to Melbourne United back in the opening week.

The fight the Taipans showed most of the night will give heart to what the team can build on now for the rest of the season including the fact they won the rebound count and also shot the ball at 53 per cent from the field and went 10/20 from long-range at 50 per cent.

Point guard maestro Scott Machado was brilliant for the Taipans finishing with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists on the back of shooting 9/15 from the field and 3/4 from beyond the arc.

Cam Oliver also put up 22 points and seven rebounds on an efficient 8/11 shooting from the floor and 3/3 from three-point land.

There were plenty of other solid contributors for the Snakes with Fabijan Krslovic delivering seven points and eight rebounds, Nate Jawai seven points and three boards, Mojave King seven points, Mirko Djeric five points and three assists, Kouat Noi five points, George Blagojevic two points and Jordan Ngatai two points.

Taipans coach Mike Kelly was happy with a lot of what he saw in the performance to give them heart to build on it now beyond the NBL Cup.

"I think the first big difference between our last game and this game was we came out with great energy and intent," Kelly said.

"They made some shots and we made some bad plays... we made some mistakes, but the energy was really good in that first quarter from that group. The energy went in the wrong direction at times, so we were down six. But I was encouraged. 

"I expect great energy from the guys and when it is not there it is a huge disappointment. I'm happy when it is there, but energy comes first and you have to play great basketball as well. For a portion of the night we didn't play great basketball. 

"I think we can win our next game. I thought coming in that we had a good shot at winning this game. Right now that has to be the focus."

Cam Oliver and Scott Machado were keeping Cairns close early as they combined for the team's first nine points before Nate Jawai came on to provide a spark as did Jordan Ngatai.

South East Melbourne still led 20-14 after one before that lead got out to double-figures, and as much as 15 midway through the second period. 

Cairns pulled it back with triples to Oliver, Fabijan Krslovic and Machado but still the Phoenix led at the half 47-36 with Mirko Djeric, Kouat Noi and Krslovic only combining for eight points on 3/12 shooting for the Snakes.

Machado came out a man determined in the second half and he put up eight quick points before Oliver knocked down a three to make it a five-point game. But South East Melbourne responded to lead 65-55 by three quarter-time.

Cairns opened the fourth with a bang when George Blagojevic found Oliver for an alley-oop slam before Mojave King made a quick impact with a triple and then breakaway dunk.

Machado then kept the Taipans close scoring the next seven points before Oliver went on his own 5-0 run and suddenly it was a two-point game with 1:21 left.

But Cam Gliddon hit a big shot for South East Melbourne and then despite a huge triple from Djeric with nine seconds left, the Taipans couldn’t quite get over the hump.

The Snakes might be finished at the NBL Cup in Melbourne but are back on the road as the normal season resumes on Friday in Perth and Sunday in Sydney.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 9
NBL CUP WEEK 4

CQUNIVERSITY CAIRNS TAIPANS 81 (Machado 24, Oliver 22)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 85 (Creek 21, Gliddon 14) 

POINTS AWARDED – South East Melbourne Phoenix 5, Cairns Taipans 2

BOX SCORE