Hobbled Taipans crushed
THE Cairns Taipans slumped to their fifth successive loss, the eighth in their past nine games, in a nightmare NBL clash with the South Dragons in Melbourne last night.
The 102-64 scoreline told a tale of woe for the undermanned Taipans who headed into the match without Darnell Mee and lost Dave Thomas to a medial ligament injury after just seven minutes.
The Snakes’ 64-point tally was the equal third-lowest in club history, while the 38-point losing margin was the equal biggest in the NBL this season and the Taipans’ worst since 2001.
Coach Alan Black felt his team had found a way to "hang in there" in the second half after fighting back to within five points of the lead. A disastrous opening quarter had yielded just 11 points with the Dragons taking a 22-11 lead to the first break.
With Thomas and Mee sidelined and Aaron Grabau forced from the court early in the second quarter after turning an ankle, the Taipans managed to rally.
But the Dragons closed the term with a 17-2 run.
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