THE Cairns Taipans have kept their mathematical playoff chances alive with a thrilling 87-81 overtime win against Townsville at the convention centre last night.

Import guard Skip Mills sank a three-pointer 12 seconds from fulltime to tie the match up and the game went to overtime when Townsville failed to convert its final possession.

Pictures: Cairns Taipans 2009-10

The Crocs' win against Wollongong in Townsville on Friday night kept Cairns' chances alive and the Snakes responded with a spirited effort in the North Queensland derby.

After a third-quarter comeback, the Taipans took a three-point lead into the final term but Townsville charged back into the game with outstanding outside shooting.

The visitors looked as though they would steal the win when they led by three points in the final seconds of the match but Mills buried his attempt from outside the arc to send the game to overtime.

The Snakes have built their season on defence and it formed the foundation of their overtime dominance.

Four consecutive defensive stops allowed them to push to a five-point lead early in the five-minute period but the Crocs were back in the frame after consecutive three-pointers.

But Dusty Rychart - the hero of the second half for the Taipans - chipped in with a bucket that stretched the buffer back out to three points inside the final minute before Skip Mills and Rich Melzer iced the game from the charity stripe.

The Taipans sprinted from the blocks from tip off, racing to a 17-8 lead midway through the first term and resisting the late fade that has dogged their progress over the last month to push on to a 23-15 lead at the opening break.

They continued to hold the edge early in the second, with the buffer 33-24 midway through the quarter when Crocs coach Trevor Gleeson called a timeout.

The break proved the perfect tonic for the Crocs who went on a 19-4 run to take a 43-37 lead to halftime.

The Taipans looked disorganised in offence, twice failing to get an attempt off before the clock wound down and yielding the glass to the Crocs, who racked up a two-to-one rebounding advantage by halftime.

Things improved little straight after halftime, the Taipans' deficit slipping to 11 points after the Crocs scored the first five of the term.

It spurred the Taipans' big men into action.

Cairns scored the next 10 points, with Rychart responsible for eight of those.

The rally put the Taipans in touch and brought the convention centre crowd of 4123 back into the match.

After a lean couple of weeks, captain Phill Jones stood up when it mattered, scoring five points in the final two minutes of the term to give the Snakes to a 57-54 lead at the final break.

The game deteriorated in the final quarter, referee Roger Shiels calling simultaneous fouls on Jones and Rolan Roberts early in the term and a seemingly inexplicable intentional foul on Kerry Williams only 20 seconds later.

Roberts fouled out of the game little over a minute later leaving the Crocs without his strong inside presence for the final 12 minutes of the game.

But the Crocs needed little back-up in the paint, switching their focus to outside the arc where Peter Crawford and Brad Williamson bombed away to give Townsville the lead.

But Rychart changed the momentum again when he stepped up and hit a three of his own to put the Snakes within two points late in the match.

Townsville's margin was still two points inside the final minute and stretched to three just 20 seconds from time as Brad Williamson hit one of his two free throws.

Mills answered the call for the Taipans, sinking a three from the top of the arc to tie the scores and send the game to overtime.

The win was the Taipans' first over their arch rivals since February 2008.

CAIRNS TAIPANS 87 (Dusty Rychart 21, Skip Mills 16, Rich Melzer, Phill Jones 14) d TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES (Peter Crawford 16,  Corey Williams 13, Brad Williamson 11) in overtime.

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