Oduro, Anthony lead United to big win

Josh Oduro and Cole Anthony combined for 51 points, 13 rebounds and five steals with Melbourne United outscoring the Cairns Taipans 62 points to 43 after half-time to win 113-97.

Both teams came into the Saturday night match up at the Cairns Convention Centre in winning form with Cairns having won five of their last six including in Brisbane on Thursday.

Melbourne were fresh off beating Sydney at home back on Sunday and it was the Snakes who led for the entire first half including by as much as nine points and 54-51 at half-time.

But United took over from there with seven quick points to start the second half and ended up scoring 62 points on 23/38 shooting after half-time including 6/11 from deep and 10/14 at the foul line.

That gave Melbourne the 16-point win to improve to a 5-5 record having played with a full roster for the first time with Chris Goulding returning to play 15 minutes for six points on 2/5 three-point shooting.

Oduro was a dominant force down low again for United finishing with 26 points and six rebounds on 8/9 field goal shooting and 10/16 from the line.

Anthony also took over in the second half to end up with 25 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals on 11/20 shooting while being +23 in his 32 minutes.

Joe Ingles also had 16 points and three assists with 4/5 shooting from the outside, Luke Travers 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, and former Taipan Sam Waardenburg 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Cairns are now 6-5 following the loss with Jaylin Galloway copping a knock to his hip to limit him to just seven minutes.

Jack McVeigh top scored with 19 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals with Keanu Pinder adding 16 points and five boards, Kyrin Galloway 11 points and two rebounds, Reyne Smith 11 points, Jaylon Brown eight points and seven assists, and Shaun Bruce eight points and six assists.

It was a high-scoring opening quarter from both teams and the Taipans opened up a nine-point lead along the way and by quarter-time were on top 33-26.

That was on the back of shooting 13/21 from the field and 5/11 from deep with Jack McVeigh having eight points while Josh Oduro had 10 points for Melbourne and United went 8/10 at the foul line to 2/2.

The Snakes remained on top through the second quarter as well and went into half-time still leading 54-41 on 22/40 shooting from the field and 7/22 from deep but still only having taken three free throws.

McVeigh was up to 14 points and Keanu Pinder 12 while Melbourne were staying in touch with 11/13 free-throw shooting and going 50 per cent from the floor to make up for 4/16 from beyond the arc.

Oduro was up to 14 points, Cole Anthony 11 and Joe Ingles.

Melbourne then came out hot to start the second half and it took Adam Forde less than two minutes to have to burn a timeout after seven quick United points that started with an Anthony dunk on the back of a poor pass from Pinder.

United then kept that rolling from there with 34 points in the third quarter with 13/20 shooting from the field and 5/8 from downtown, with Anthony taking charge with 10 points.

The frustrations continued to build for Cairns as the game rolled on and Melbourne kept on getting to the line having been in the bonus early in the fourth before going on to secure the eventual 16-point win to make it two straight.

United now have a quick turnaround to host the New Zealand Breakers on Melbourne Cup Eve while the Taipans are next in action on Thursday night at home to the Illawarra Hawks.

CAIRNS TAIPANS 97 – MELBOURNE UNITED 113

Cairns Taipans
Jack McVeigh – 19 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds
Keanu Pinder – 16 points, 5 rebounds
Reyne Smith – 11 points
Kyrin Galloway – 11 points, 2 rebounds
Jaylon Brown – 8 points, 7 assists

Melbourne United
Josh Oduro – 26 points, 6 rebounds, 8/9 FG
Cole Anthony – 25 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals
Joe Ingles – 16 points, 3 assists, 4/5 3PT
Luke Travers – 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Sam Waardenburg – 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals