THE Taipans have escaped from a home Reptile Rumble with a crucial win after trailing by as many as eight in the final term.

The Townsville Crocs went hunting in the final five minutes but the Snakes held firm in defence before renowned closer Jamar Wilson (18 points) guided them home.

Chris Cedar dropped back-to-back threes to give the Crocs a 70-62 lead, but after an Aaron Fearne timeout Alex Loughton (15 points) and Drew Warren (25 points) did the same to bring it level. Wilson, who has scrambled so well at the death this season for the Snakes, sealed it from there.

They looked like jumping away in the third term when Brad Hill latched on to a Jamar Wilson pass for an alley-oop. But they then squandered plays at crucial moments to kill their momentum. That allowed the Crocs to fight their way back into the game with a nine-point run to suddenly grab a 57-55 lead late in the third quarter.

Ian Crosswhite made the bucket and drew the foul to get it straight back for the Snakes and they held on for a 60-59 advantage to start the final quarter.

Both teams shot at around 50 per cent from the field and must have wondered why scoring seemed so difficult last weekend.

A whirlwind opening from Warren (5-of-10 from long range) gave the Snakes a  12-point lead in the second quarter. But benchman Todd Blanchfield gave the visitors a huge boost with his three-pointer from the flank on the stroke of half-time.

Cairns  85 (D Warren  24, J Wilson 18) d Townsville 81 (Gill 17, Schenscher 16).Crowd: 4835 at the Cairns Convention Centre.