Taipans record consecutive road wins

The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans were the talk of the town after Thursday night’s game, when the Cairns Convention Centre experienced a power surge and multiple operating systems failed within the venue; but just two days later they have responded with their first consecutive road win of the season, defeating Adelaide 116-103 on Saturday. 

Bul Kuol and Sam Waardenburg have both struggled from range in recent games and they both were accurate from three within the opening minutes of the competition and it was a good indication of what was to come.

The Taipans scored nine three-pointers in the first 10 minutes, which included four from Bobi Klintman. Off the bench, the next star registered 14 points in 7:42 off the bench, as he and Jonah Antonio took turns from range for a 12-0 Cairns run.

Cairns had their best first quarter for the season, scoring 35 points to Adelaide’s 26.

It took almost four minutes into the second for the Taipans to score outside the arc again, with Tahjere McCall recording a triple for the team’s biggest lead of the game, with 30 of Cairns’ 47 points coming from three.

Adelaide crawled their way back into the contest, as Cairns struggled with their pick and roll coverage but still managed to put points on the board for a 61-57 buffer at the main break.

By half-time, Klintman had 20 points (6/10 FG) already surpassing his best NBL game yet (previously 19 points against Brisbane) to lead all Cairns scorers, with McCall piecing together a nice stat line of 13 points, six assists and two steals.

Adelaide were playing their first game under interim Head Coach Scott Ninnis, and after losing 11 consecutive first halves this season, 67 points to the Taipans was the most they’ve conceded in the first half for the entire 2023/24 season.

The second half started the same way the first, with a Kuol triple as AK Gak was injected into the game for the first time this round. Gak didn’t see court time on Thursday, but scored seven points in seven minutes as he dominated the paint and flexed his athleticism against Isaac Humphries.

Sixers guard DJ Vasiljevic levelled the scores at 77-all in the third quarter and Alex Starling helped get the home team get their first lead of the game. Vasiljevic continued to put on the pressure for 11 points in the term and closed the gap to just one-point at the final break.  

Pat Miller led the way to start the last quarter, while Waardenburg continued to make key plays down the stretch, including an important block with minutes to go. Cairns outscored Adelaide 31-17 in the final, including five consecutive points from McCall in a dominant all-round performance that featured 14 assists.  

His 14 assists equalled Cairns’ all-time franchise record before finding Jonah Antonio in the dying seconds.

Antonio hit his fourth three-pointer to close out the game in what can only be described as a redemption basket from Thursday night, as McCall registered a record-breaking 15^th assist, setting a new career-high and Taipans franchise-high.

15 assists is also the most by any NBL player in the 40-minute era in the last decade. 

McCall complemented this with 19 points, four rebounds and four steals as Pat Miller led all Taipans’ scorers with 26 points, five assists and four rebounds. Bobi Klintman registered a new career-high of 22 points plus three boards.

Cairns' 116 points also sets the new league-high for the 2023-24 NBL season, surpassing the previous high of 115 points also posted by Cairns in Round 9 against Melbourne United. 35 points was the best first quarter for the Taipans this year, and 31 points in the fourth was also their best finish. 

BOX SCORE

Next Game: Taipans v Breakers - Friday 15 December, 6:30pm (Cairns Convention Centre) TICKETS