The Cairns Taipans have produced a stirring comeback to upset the Perth Wildcats 79-76 at the Cairns Convention Centre on Wednesday night.
The hosts trailed at every change and were down by as many as 15 points in the second term but a Phill Jones-inspired comeback midway through the match and some key plays by Skip Mills and Rich Melzer down the stretch saw them snatch an unlikely victory.
The visitors were ruthless, determined and simply better from the get go as they scored 18 of the first 22 points in the match. Even with Shawn Redhage spending the majority of the term on the bench after picking up two fouls the Wildcats dominated.
Inspired by the hustle of Brad Robbins, who grabbed six points for the term, and helped by back-to-back triples from Stephen Weigh, Perth took a comfortable 26-15 lead into the first break.
The hosts simply weren't in the game early shooting a paltry 28 percent from the floor, while their opponents scored with two of every three shots.
The lead stretched to 15 before the Taipans awoke from their slumber. Jones started a scorching run hitting 18 of the first 21pts for the Snakes in the term as they closed the gap to three. Jones had 23 points to half time, including four triples and a ridiculous one handed push from the stripe when he simply couldn't miss.
A buzzer beating Kevin Lisch drive to the hole allowed the Wildcats to stretch their lead to five at halftime (46-41).
The hosts pulled themselves into the lead for the first time three minutes into the second half when Dusty Rychart nailed a three-pointer. But the advantage was short-lived as the Wildcats hit back extending the lead to eight points. A late fightback from Cairns saw it trail 62-61 at the final break.
Lisch nailed his third triple of the night to open the final term, but Tony Rampton unexpectedly cancelled that out with a rare three of his own.
In a gripping final 10 minutes both teams traded punches with Melzer and Redhage both making key plays. The Snakes had the edge though taking a three-point lead into the final minute.
This quickly evaporated to one point but in a crucial play Mills picked up an unlikely rebound outside the paint after his shot came straight back to him from the front of the ring. The ensuing foul put Aaron Grabau to the line and he converted both leaving the Wildcats three points down with eight seconds on clock.
The task proved too difficult and the Snakes held on for their 11th win for the season.
The Taipans (11-14) will take plenty of confidence down to Townsville on Saturday for another installment of the 'Reptile Rumble' while the Wildcats (15-10) will be licking their wounds before their top-of-the-table clash with the Blaze on the Gold Coast on Saturday night.
'Skytrans' Cairns Taipans 79 (Jones 25, Mills 16, Melzer 15)
Perth Wildcats 76 (Weigh 15, Lisch 13, Luke Schenscher 10)
@ Cairns Convention Centre, 3/2/2010.
