Cairns Taipans fight to avoid spoon
THE pain will linger but the Taipans have been urged to let Friday night's frustrating loss at the Gold Coast go to focus fully on the home treble that will round out the year.
Cairns lost 69-68 to the Blaze after blowing a seven-point lead in the final three minutes of the match.
Pictures: Cairns Taipans 2009-10
The Taipans still led seconds from fulltime but sent the Blaze to the free-throw line, gifting them the game.
"As hard as it is for us to put this one away, we have to," coach Aaron Fearne said of the 69-68 loss to the Blaze.
"It’s hard. We had a goal as a coaching staff to at least split these (four) road games and we had it."
After notching the club’s first win in Melbourne a fortnight ago, the Taipans lost in New Zealand and then Townsville but had the chance to pick up another vital away victory when they led at every change against the Blaze. "We’ve got to pinch a couple more now (on the road) as well as looking after things at home."
The Taipans are now only marginally ahead of bottom-placed Melbourne Tigers on win percentage and having played more games than any team in the league, are quickly running out of time to save their
season.
The Snakes have played 17 of their 28 regular-season fixtures and need to make a mark in the three upcoming home games, starting this Friday against the Tigers.
"We’ve got to let (Friday’s game) go," Fearne said.
"We have to go to work on those things (that are troubling our game) at training during the week and try and get a win against the Tigers."
The Taipans’ defence was outstanding once again, holding the Blaze to just three points in the opening minutes while the Snakes piled on 16 points.
The Blaze’s 69-point total was its second-worst of the season after a 66-point effort which came in a loss to the Taipans in October.
"Again … again … defensively we played really well," a clearly frustrated Fearne said.
"We got them out of their rhythm. They’re a team that’s been shooting at 50 per cent from the field, that’s unbelievable as a team.
"But they really struggled against us. We just didn’t make the plays down the stretch."
But the Taipans were also kept quiet after the first quarter, registering totals of 15, 12, and 13 in the final three periods as their offensive struggles returned.
* Taipans fans have been urged to get their tickets for Friday’s clash against the Tigers early because of the big demand at the ticket office on game night. Tickets are available from Ticketlink at the Cairns Civic Theatre, by phoning 1300 855 835 or online at www.ticketlink.com.au.
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