Taipans beat Melbourne United in a nail-biter

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The Cairns Taipans fought back to win a tight contest with Melbourne United on Thursday night 81-77.

More than once, the Taipans had to dig themselves out of trouble, running down United second half leads with scoring streaks of 22 points in the third quarter and nine in the fourth.

It was their first win over Melbourne United in ten attempts and takes the Taipans season record to four wins and one loss.

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Keanu Pinder gave a career-best performance, scoring 26 points, with eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Shannon Scott led by example, filling in for injured captain, Tahjere McCall, making 19 points, nine assists, and six rebounds.

DJ Hogg had 13 points for Cairns, while Mirko Djeric scored 11 points with two three-pointers. Sam Waardenburg made eight points, five rebounds, and two blocks.

The fight for the lead produced some entertaining moments, and a nail-biter finish, with the Snakes scoring seven straight points to hit the front with two minutes left on the clock.

With seconds remaining, Keanu Pinder regained possession from a United goal attempt, setting up Hogg to score and the Taipans hung on for the win.

Head coach, Adam Forde, said it was a win, but it wasn’t pretty.

"In every game, we've been down double-digits, so we just said that this is no different, we've been here before and let's do it again.

“They then did it and it was energy.

“ We just came out flat and we didn’t look overly enthusiastic about the first quarter, and we talked about how Melbourne were going to come out and really show their home crowd that they were going to win this game.

“I don’t want this to become a consistent thing.

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“We know with this team we have to do it defensively and then, when the floodgates open up, they will open up and that 22-0 run was our floodgate moment tonight so I'm happy with the boys."

Taipans forward, DJ Hogg, said he’s looking forward to a home game win on Sunday.

"So far, we are doing pretty well on the road and now we've got one at home on Sunday and we have to put a show on for our fans there and give them something to come to our games for.

“We just came out a little flat tonight and our shots weren’t falling, and the ball was sticking a little bit.

“They were making shots and getting downhill a little too easy, we just weren’t playing the right way.

“In the second half we picked it up and even though they went on a little run there, we were able to weather the storm and then focus on figuring out how to win the game."

The Taipans are at home to the New Zealand Breakers on Sunday afternoon.