Phoenix blow away Snakes in first half

The trademark full-court South East Melbourne Phoenix defence was in full swing as they put up 64 first-half points for a 27-point lead before completing the 101-90 road win over the Cairns Taipans.

Angus Glover returned from an ankle injury after missing the past two games and he lit it up with five three-point makes in the first half with the Phoenix blowing the game wide open.

South East Melbourne had built a match winning 64-39 advantage already by half-time having led by as much as 27 points.

The Taipans did fight out the game strongly outscoring the Phoenix 41 points to 37 in the second half, but could never quite get close enough to threaten with South East Melbourne scoring the 11-point road win to move back to second spot at 8-3.

Glover ended the night with 24 points and five assists with 6/12 three-point shooting to lead the way for the visitors with Nathan Sobey adding 17 points with four assists despite going 1/9 from behind the arc.

John Brown III also finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists, Wes Iwundu 12 points and three rebounds, Jordan Hunter 11 points and four boards, and Owen Foxwell 10 points, seven assists and three steals.

Cairns remain in last place at 3-10 following the loss where they had 19 turnovers for the game and gave up 17 more shot attempts to South East Melbourne.

Jack McVeigh top-scored with 22 points, five rebounds and three assists with 4/8 three-point shooting while Mojave King produced 16 points and five boards, Admiral Schofield 14 points and eight rebounds, and Kyrin Galloway 13 points and six boards.

Import point guard Andrew Andrews also ended up with 11 points, 10 assists and four rebounds but a game-high seven turnovers.

Cairns were competitive early but a technical foul against coach Adam Forde for stepping onto the court got their second period off to a bad start.

A 7-0 Phoenix run gave the visitors a double-figure buffer and Glover caught fire in the second period.

He sunk 17 first-half points on 6/9 field goal shooting to lead his side to a 25-point advantage at the main break.

Glover's tally included 5/8 from long range as the Phoenix drained a dozen three-pointers in the first half, while Cairns had 11 turnovers.

The Taipans showed some fight, winning the second half 53-37, but were never close enough to mount a serious challenge.

The Taipans now have a tough turnaround to hit the road to play the Adelaide 36ers on Sunday while the Phoenix don't play again until taking on the Brisbane Bullets still on the road on Thursday night.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

CAIRNS TAIPANS 90 (McVeigh 22, King 16, Schofield 14)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 101 (Glover 24, Sobey 17, Brown III 13)

BOX SCORE