Taipans strengthen finals hopes with 76-67 win
A DEVASTATING third term helped the Taipans romp home 76-67 winners against Perth in Cairns on Friday night and strengthen their case for another post-season campaign.
It was all Jamar Wilson (24 points), with help from Ian Crosswhite (8 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists) as Perth’s big guns were squeezed out of the contest until the final five minutes.
The Taipans scored 20-1 in the first six minutes of the third quarter, including a blistering 14-0 run to start the term.
Drew Warren hit two triples, before Wilson followed suit and Brad Hill drove hard to the rim.
Warren then found his range again before Cam Tovey stopped the rot.
It was only a one-off though, as another string of stops handed the Taipans the next six points to see the score blow out to 49-31.
They finished the quarter up 57-41, leading by as many as 19 at one stage. Everything the Taipans touched turned to gold, while Perth could not buy a basket in the second half.
Wilson had 14 of 29 Taipans points in the first quarter, before Warren finally opened his account with a triple to start the third term.
Wilson’s opponent Damian Martin, meanwhile, was kept scoreless until the final quarter.
A series of Taipans stops frustrated Perth and even when Martin’s men managed to get a shot up, it more often than not rimmed out.
Up 10-4 inside the first five minutes, the Taipans were kept scoreless for the rest of the quarter to trail 12-10.
Their rebounding kept them in it, though, and despite looking out of the contest, the Taipans shot back into the lead courtesy of a Wilson three-point play late in the first half.
Perth shied away from a long-range game, attempting just one three-pointer in the first half.
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Huge bucket: Cairns Taipans' Ian Crosswhite swings off the basket after making a big slam dunk in last night's battle with Perth Wildcats at the Cairns Convention Centre.
