Taipans Give Hawks Another Heartbreaking Loss

The Cairns Taipans started on fire but then had to dig deep late to come back from trailing with three minutes to go to hand the Illawarra Hawks another heartbreaking loss prevailing 89-84 at home on Friday night.

The way the game started at Cairns Convention Centre was ominous with the Taipans needing to keep winning to maintain second spot had all the hallmarks of a spanking win for the home team.

The Snakes went on a stunning start to lead 18-4 but while the Hawks might have won twice all season while losing four imports to season-ending injuries along the way, they have not stopped fighting.

That was once again the case. Remarkably, the Hawks went into quarter-time leading after conceding 18 of the first 22 points by scoring 20 of the last 25.

Illawarra then appeared on track to snap their nine-game losing run multiple times during the fourth quarter as they turned the heat up and forced poor decision after poor decision from the home team.

Tyler Harvey put the Hawks up three with a triple and then with three minutes to play, Davo Hickey walked in for an offensive rebound, put it back in and the lead was still three.

The Snakes had to dig deep with a top two finish potentially riding on the result and they did.

They scored the next seven points to regain the lead and ultimately Tahjere McCall taking a defensive rebound off Deng Deng in the dying seconds was enough to secure the five-point win for the home team to keep them in second spot.

It was the most remarkable of starts from the Taipans who came out ready to make a statement. It was all led by Tahjere McCall who scored the first two buckets and set the tone defensively. DJ Hogg and Shannon Scott then hit three balls for the 11-2 start.

When Hogg hit from deep again and a couple of steals led to McCall buckets the Snakes were in complete control leading 18-4 to the delight of the Orange Army cheering on their men in black.

There was no sign of what was to come, but to the full credit of the Hawks they shook off that start and finished the quarter in similar fashion to the way the Taipans started it.

It began with four quick points to Dan Grida and then Mangok Mathiang started an 11-0 run that including a three point play from Tyler Harvey to suddenly see the Hawks grab the lead.

A Davo Hickey triple ensured Illawarra still led 24-23 by quarter-time but it was then Cairns' turn to flip the switch again with the opening seven points of the second period including three balls from Majok Deng and Sam Waardenburg.

It was McCall the biggest factor in Cairns maintaining a 45-40 lead by half-time as he went into the break with 15 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists, but a combined 20 points for the Hawks by Harvey and Hickey kept the visitors close as they shot 51 per cent from the floor.

Cairns started the third quarter on a 9-3 run including another three from Hogg to be back up 11 but a fourth foul to McCall kept him off the court until the start of the fourth.

The Hawks maintained touch with a strong third quarter especially from Mathiang with the Taipans narrowly leading 67-61 at three quarter-time.

Cairns were back up nine midway through the fourth but Illawarra just wasn’t going to be denied. Forcing some poor turnovers on Cairns, the Hawks hit threes through Grida and Deng. Then when Harvey scored on a floater, the scores were all square with 5:50 to play.

Despite a steadying Cairns dunk from Waardenburg, the Hawks were soon up three when Harvey drained a huge three with just over four minutes to play.

Illawarra maintained a three-point lead on an offensive rebound and putback that was all to easy to Hickey with three to play. 

Things were decidedly scrappy over the next couple of minutes, but the Taipans got the stops needed to regain a two-point lead when Bul Kuol knocked down a pair of free-throws with 36 seconds to play.

A couple of rough moments from Mathiang with a quick three and then stopping the ball going out of bounds when it would have been Illawarra's ball helped Cairns keep possession, and Scott nailed the winning free-throws for the eventual five-point win.

The Hawks head to Sydney to play the on-fire Kings on Sunday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 15

CAIRNS TAIPANS 89 (McCall 24, Scott 15, Hogg 15)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 84 (Harvey 25, Hickey 16, Mathiang 14) 

BOX SCORE