The Cairns Taipans have kept their finals hopes alive by defeating the New Zealand Breakers 77-64 at the Cairns Convention Centre on Wednesday night.
With the worst shooting record in the league (42 percent), the Taipans needed to get off to a hot start, but it was not to be as they struggled to get away shots (four clean shots in the first four minutes) while Oscar Foreman got the Kirk Penney-less Breakers off to a 9-2 start with success from inside and outside the three-point arc.
Rich Melzer entered the game midway through the first period, having admitted during the week in the Cairns media that as an import he was under pressure to lift his form, and he was instrumental at both ends of the court in getting his side back in the contest with three first-quarter points and two block shots.
Of concern for the visitors was CJ Bruton's inability to get into the game (0-of-2 in the first quarter) as the Taipans clawed their way back to level the scores 14-14 at quarter-time.
The Taipans flew out of the blocks to start the second term with Melzer (nine first-half points) continuing his strong involvement.
Fellow import Julien Mills joined the party with an amazing fade away shot from the baseline and followed it with a steal before drawing the foul in a three-point play on Bruton which had the home fans on their feet.
The 14-0 streak gave the Taipans a 12-point lead midway through the term before New Zealand scored six consecutive points (including Bruton's only two points of the half) to close the gap.
But the Taipans looked a much more determined side and when Kerry Williams hit the home team's first three-point shot of the game with two minutes remaining in the half, the Taipans had reasserted themselves and they went to the half-time break leading 35-23.
The Breakers were much better in the third period as Bruton started to inject himself into the game but Dusty Rychart (19 points, 11 rebounds) was everywhere as he guided his side to a nine-point lead at the final change.
The night went from bad to worse for the visitors as Dillon Boucher (who's one defensive rebound of the night was the 500th of his career) and Thomas Abercrombie both fouled out with six minutes still remaining in the match.
And when Forman and Bruton both fouled out shortly after, any chance the Breakers had of a comeback were dashed.
The Taipans relied on their speed in the paint to draw fouls - the Breakers committed 34 team fouls in total - as Williams, the only Taipan to score from outside the arc, hit the final big shot of the game to leave the crowd rejoicing.
Nine second-quarter points was the lowest team total in a quarter in the Breakers' history and it contributed to their lowest-ever score in a half of basketball of 23 points.
Their previous low was 30 against Perth in 2005 and Cairns in 2008. It was also New Zealand's lowest-ever score.
The Taipans (5-8) travel to Melbourne to take on the Tigers on Saturday while the New Zealand Breakers (5-6) complete their North Queensland tour on Friday when John Rillie makes a return to Townsville as the Breakers take on the Crocodiles.
Cairns Taipans 77 (Rychart 19, Melzer 17, Mills 13)
New Zealand Breakers 64 (Bruton 10, Foreman 9, Ronaldson 8)
@ Cairns Convention Centre, 18/11/2009. Crowd 2,673.
