A MERCILESS Cairns Marlins were at their ruthless and unrelenting best at the Bendigo Bank Basketball Centre last night, crushing an outclassed Ipswich Force 129-67.

It was the Queensland Basketball League ladder leaders versus the competition’s second bottom side and the Marlins left no doubt as to which team was which.

The Marlins were unstoppable in the first quarter. With point guard Kerry Williams running the plays and big man Rowan Gray commanding the boards the home side cannoned to an early 10-point lead.

While the Marlins’ offence was clicking coach Aaron Fearne would have been even more impressed with his team’s snap in defence.

The Force was gifted few cheap points, with the Marlins’ constant harassment causing the visitors to rush their shots in an effort to beat the clock.

By the first break the Marlins were up 36-13 and from that moment the only question left to be answered was how much would they win by.

It turned out a lot.

The Marlins’ lead swelled to 40 points at halftime thanks largely to an entertaining second-quarter cameo from Joel Kahlu.

The veteran and crowd favourite lit up the court with 10 points, putting the exclamation point on the Marlins’ dominance.

While the Force never stopped trying that talent gulf between the sides was too much to bridge.

The Marlins turned up the style dial in the final two quarters with an alley-oop from livewire Deba George a particular highlight late in the third stanza.

Nello Giordano led the scoring for the Marlins with 20 points.

Earlier in the night, the Dolphins broke their streak of six-straight losses with a thrilling 77-73 win over the Force.

Juliana Paunovic scored a game high 26 points for the Marlins, while Ashley North contributed 22.

Cairns Marlins 129 (Nello Giordano 20, Aaron Grabau 19, Rowan Gray 18) d Ipswich Force 67 (Steven Broom 23, Ryan Jeffries 11, Ryan Stolberg 11).

Cairns Dolphins 77 (Juliana Paunovic 26, Ashley North 22) d Ipswich Force 73 (Amber Stefanovic 24, Lauren O’Sullivan 11).

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