McVeigh nails OT winner for JackJumpers against Taipans

Jack McVeigh has drilled a long three-pointer on the buzzer in overtime as the Tasmania JackJumpers rallied from behind to beat the Cairns Taipans 90-87 in Far North Queensland.

A second period of overtime looked certain on Saturday night when Cairns star Tahjere McCall breezed to the rim to tie the game with just seconds on the clock.

It did appear the Taipans had the last possession, but while McCall's bucket wascrucial to level scores it did leave seconds on the clock and gave Tasmania time to snatch it.

That's exactly what they did thanks to the ever-confidence McVeigh. It took him to 24 points on the evening and his three-point attempt from well beyond the arc never looked like missing as he played hero and the JackJumpers celebrated wildly on the road.

"It was good fun, I said, 'yes, I get to shoot this ... I just let it fly and can't remember what happened in the 30 seconds after that," he said of his long triple," McVeigh said.

"Fun moment in my career, for sure. They're the moments I work for, I live for."

Cairns led by six at the final break and held that buffer for most of the final quarter.

But the points dried up - they scored just 10 in the final term - as the JackJumpers moved to a 7-5 season record and the Snakes dropped a second close, tough game of the round to fall to 4-6.

McCall (21 points) and Patrick Miller (26 points) did all they could to drag the hosts home, but the JackJumpers collected 48 rebounds to 29 and their dry spell in the final minutes of regular time cost coach Adam Forde's side.

The Taipans managed just one first-quarter assist as McCall did all the offensive damage.

They still trailed by seven though, despite JackJumpers coach Scott Roth fearlessly benching star man Milton Doyle when he picked up his second foul inside four minutes

Tasmania captain Clint Steindl hit two quick-fire triples on the floor he started his NBL career on and the visitors led by nine in the second term.

A Lat Mayen triple sent the Taipans on a 13-2 run that gave them a two-point lead at half-time.

In-form Tasmanian centre Will Magnay left the game in the third quarter after copping an accidental poke to the eye, although the former NBA big returned in the fourth quarter.

He immediately made an impact, swiping away McCall's mid-range shot before Doyle scored at the other end.

Doyle picked up his fourth foul soon after and the home crowd sensed the moment.

But the hosts couldn't find a bucket and Crawford's triple - his first points since the first quarter - gave Tasmania a lead before Miller tied the game 77-77 inside the last 30 seconds.

The visitors emerged with possession after a mad scramble under the basket but Crawford, well guarded by Taran Armstrong, missed the final-play match-winner but made no mistake in overtime.

Cairns' Next Star Bobi Klintman (hip) missed the clash, the Taipans relieved to not play again until December 1 so they can regroup after a whirlwind mid-season, two-game NBA pre-season trip.

Forde said the side was gutted and Armstrong conceded they needed more training time to realise their potential.

"It sounds like a cop-out," he said. 

"But we have so much talent around, learning to play with each other.

"Tonight we were better than against Perth (on Thursday) and we'll continue to grow."

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 8

CAIRNS TAIPANS 87 (Miller 26, McCall 21, Kuol 17)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 90 (McVeigh 24, Crawford 20, Macdonald 10)

BOX SCORE