Taipans Give Hawks Another Heartbreaking Loss

The Cairns Taipans started on fire but then had to dig deep late to come back from trailing with three minutes to go to hand the Illawarra Hawks another heartbreaking loss prevailing 89-84 at home on Friday night.

The way the game started at Cairns Convention Centre was ominous with the Taipans needing to keep winning to maintain second spot and had all the hallmarks of a spanking win for the home team.

The Snakes went on a stunning start to lead 18-4 but while the Hawks might have won twice all season while losing four imports to season-ending injuries along the way, they have not stopped fighting.

That was once again the case. Remarkably, the Hawks went into quarter-time leading after conceding 18 of the first 22 points by scoring 20 of the last 25.

Illawarra then appeared on track to snap their nine-game losing run multiple times during the fourth quarter as they turned the heat up and forced poor decision after poor decision from the home team.

Tyler Harvey put the Hawks up three with a triple and then with three minutes to play, Davo Hickey walked in for an offensive rebound, put it back in and the lead was still three.

The Snakes had to dig deep with a top two finish potentially riding on the result and they did.

They scored the next seven points to regain the lead and ultimately Tahjere McCall taking a defensive rebound off Deng Deng in the dying seconds was enough to secure the five-point win to keep them in second spot.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">At ? both ? ends ?<br><br>The Snakes are HUMMING ?<br><br>Follow the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/DaAweKrJ4C">pic.twitter.com/DaAweKrJ4C</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1613821009974689794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

McCall was again inspirational for the Taipans finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals including going 8/11 at the foul line.

Shannon Scott also contributed 15 points and six assists, DJ Hogg 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and Majok Deng 12 points and five boards.

Taipans coach Adam Forde wasn’t thrilled with the performance, but was relieved to get the win.

"It was kind of disappointing I thought. The start was good and I used it as a bit of an opportunity, rightly or wrongly, to have one eye on the quick turnaround so I thought we could try and rotate some things," Forde said. 

"Then the momentum completely shifted, and so did the vibe of the group and I know I played a part in that too. I probably got on them a bit harshly, but we're all professionals right and we have to address what's happening right now. 

"For what was a 14-point lead we lost the lead and were down at the end of the first quarter, it wasn’t great. Collectively, not just me and the bench, but also the playing the group, we've all got to be better. 

"I thought some players didn’t really get out of second gear and that's not to discredit what Illawarra did. But we're kinda spoilt now, we got a win and we would have been ecstatic with it last season, but I felt like it wasn’t a great win for us."

Tyler Harvey did all he could to try and will the Hawks over the line with 25 points and five assists while Davo Hickey continued to grow with another 16 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists in almost 30 minutes of playing time.

Mangok Mathiang (14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks) and Deng Deng (10 points, eight rebounds) stepped up in the frontcourt while Sam Froling struggled for just two points and three rebounds on 1/5 shooting.

Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas was again proud of the response from his group after that slow start where he needed to call a first quarter timeout, but it's a loss that stings.

"I don’t know why this one's a little bit different for me, maybe it was because of the start and I just think to myself all the time about the timeout was on that was needed at the time," Jackomas said.

"Obviously with a team like this and what our record is, it'd be easy to just think about playing the Kings on Sunday and let's not do this. 

"But we stayed with it and then just at the end of the game you can kick yourself and ask yourself what to do at the end, but I'm not going to take away from that and what these guys are doing."

It was the most remarkable of starts from the Taipans who came out ready to make a statement. It was all led by Tahjere McCall who scored the first two buckets and set the tone defensively. DJ Hogg and Shannon Scott then hit three balls for the 11-2 start.

When Hogg hit from deep again and a couple of steals led to McCall buckets the Snakes were in complete control leading 18-4 to the delight of the Orange Army cheering on their men in black.

There was no sign of what was to come, but to the full credit of the Hawks they shook off that start and finished the quarter in similar fashion to the way the Taipans started it.

It began with four quick points to Dan Grida and then Mangok Mathiang started an 11-0 run that included a three point play from Tyler Harvey to suddenly see the Hawks grab the lead.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Follow the leader? Tyler Harvey is doing WORK in this final quarter!<br><br>Catch the final moments on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/96rrFfZ2et">pic.twitter.com/96rrFfZ2et</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1613843280894267392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A Davo Hickey triple ensured Illawarra still led 24-23 by quarter-time but it was then Cairns' turn to flip the switch again with the opening seven points of the second period including three balls from Majok Deng and Sam Waardenburg.

It was McCall the biggest factor in Cairns maintaining a 45-40 lead by half-time as he went into the break with 15 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists, but a combined 20 points for the Hawks by Harvey and Hickey kept the visitors close as they shot 51 per cent from the floor.

Cairns started the third quarter on a 9-3 run including another three from Hogg to be back up 11 but a fourth foul to McCall kept him off the court until the start of the fourth.

The Hawks maintained touch with a strong third quarter especially from Mathiang with the Taipans narrowly leading 67-61 at three quarter-time.

Cairns were back up nine midway through the fourth but Illawarra just wasn’t going to be denied. Forcing some poor turnovers on Cairns, the Hawks hit threes through Grida and Deng. Then when Harvey scored on a floater, the scores were all square with 5:50 to play.

Despite a steadying Cairns dunk from Waardenburg, the Hawks were soon up three when Harvey drained a huge three with just over four minutes to play.

Illawarra maintained a three-point lead on an offensive rebound and putback that was all too easy to Hickey with three to play. 

Things were decidedly scrappy over the next couple of minutes, but the Taipans got the stops needed to regain a two-point lead when Bul Kuol knocked down a pair of free-throws with 36 seconds to play.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">?????? ???? ? ???&#39;? ??? ??<br><br>Follow the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/ksbaQmxAzn">pic.twitter.com/ksbaQmxAzn</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1613824936023584769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A couple of rough moments from Mathiang with a quick three and then stopping the ball going out of bounds when it would have been Illawarra's ball helped Cairns keep possession, and the Taipans nailed clinching free-throws for the eventual five-point win.

The Taipans head to Auckland for a monster clash with the New Zealand Breakers on Sunday that could go a long way to deciding who finishes in second position. 

The Hawks head to Sydney to play the on-fire Kings also on Sunday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 15

CAIRNS TAIPANS 89 (McCall 24, Scott 15, Hogg 15)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 84 (Harvey 25, Hickey 16, Mathiang 14) 

BOX SCORE