Cairns come from nowhere to stun Sydney in NBL thriller
Steve Barrett |
Cairns have pulled off one of the NBL’s great escapes, overturning a 26-point first-half deficit to edge ladder leaders Sydney 84-82.
Torrey Craig’s fourth triple put the Kings up 82-80 inside the last minute at the Cairns Convention Centre on Friday night, before Keanu Pinder scored twice for the Taipans, either side of a three-point miss from Sydney’s Kendric Davis, the home side up with 11.3 seconds left.
The Kings had one last opportunity, but Davis missed again from long range.
Pinder (24 points) and Jack McVeigh (16) were the stars for the Taipans, who leapt to third spot with one of the club’s greatest triumphs, down 48-22 in the second quarter and still trailing 65-51 in the third.
“We still haven’t put together a game of 40 minutes, but every day it feels like we’re getting better,” McVeigh said.
“That’s a win that we can build on. That was a fun second half.”
Imports Davis (23 points) and Craig (22) led the Kings’ charge.
After the Snakes led 7-5 midway through the opening stanza, they failed to register a field goal for the rest of the quarter.
The Kings monstered the home side 24-5 for the remainder of the term to sprint clear 29-12.
The Taipans’ woes were compounded – and their frustration exemplified – when import Jaylon Brown had to sit after chalking up his third foul, a technical for arguing a no-call under Cairns’ basket.
Sydney continued to do it with ease, before McVeigh’s three-pointer on the halftime horn pulled the gap back to 53-32 and gave Cairns some belated momentum.
Out of nowhere, their shots started dropping – and the Kings stopped.
Pinder and Malique Lewis combined for an 11-0 rush early in the second half, but the Taipans weren’t done.
Star trio Davis, Craig and Xavier Cooks sat the closing stages of the third period, which Cairns finished 12-2 , closing to 67-63.
Pinder knocked down a pair of free throws to start the final term, before Reyne Smith’s long three, incredibly, put the Taipans in front.
That lead was suddenly out to 77-69 on a Jonah Bolden trey, before Davis snapped Sydney out of their cold spell ahead of the thrilling final stages.
“We were really good at the start of the game defensively, really lively,” Kings coach Brian Goorjian said.
“Then in the second half we were a step off everything.”
AAP