Rd 2 Report | Shorthanded JackJumpers fight hard in Cairns

The Tasmania JackJumpers had only played 48 hours earlier and lost another key player before finding themselves 20 points down, but dug deep to lead the Cairns Taipans before the Snakes did end up prevailing 93-87.

The JackJumpers pulled off a tremendous come from behind performance on Monday night at home to open the new season beating the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

They did that without Josh Bannan, Anthony Drmic, Ben Ayre and Bryce Hamilton who all remained out on Wednesday night at the Cairns Convention Centre.

They were joined on the sidelines too by Majok Deng and then the JackJumpers found themselves down 20 early in the second quarter to the Taipans.

But they dug deep to close the first half with a 23-9 run and then hit the front in the third quarter, and then came back from another 14-point deficit in the fourth term before falling six points shot of the Taipans.

Considering who the JackJumpers were missing and that they came back from 20 points down to lead, and then from 14 down in the last quarter to make a game of it, there was a lot to like about their fight.

Taran Armstrong was playing his first game back in Cairns where he started his NBL career and he finished with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds on 9/16 shooting.

David Johnson backed up his standout performance from the season-opener with another 18 points, seven rebounds and 4/6 three-point shooting.

Will Magnay ended up with 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, Dakota Mathias 15 points, four boards and two assists, and Nick Marshall 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists while doing a strong defensive job on former JackJumper Jack McVeigh.

It was always a big task for the JackJumpers with the short turnaround from Monday night before heading to Cairns and doing so without a whole host of important players.

The Taipans were able to take advantage early with a 32-16 opening quarter on the back of a 12-0 run just before quarter-time.

The lead for the Snakes got out to 20 when they scored the first four points of the second quarter too but then the JackJumpers worked back into the contest in trademark fashion.

Tasmania outscored Cairns 28 points to nine the rest of the half and ended up shooting 10/15 from the field in the second quarter on the way to cutting the lead of the Snakes to just 45-44 at half-time.

Will Magnay already had 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks to the half for Tasmania with David Johnson adding another 10 points and three boards after his big game back on Monday.

The JackJumpers managed to build a four-point lead in the third quarter before by three quarter-time scores were all tied at 66-66 with a Keanu Pinder buzzer-beater for the home team.

Cairns started the fourth quarter on fire and built a 14-point lead again but the JackJumpers fired back and it was just a six-point game once more with two minutes to play when Magnay scored on a hook shot.

Just 30 seconds later and Magnay scored on the put back to bring the deficit back to four and while Cairns did hold on for the six-point win, it had been a brave performance against the odds from the JackJumpers.

The JackJumpers now have until next Thursday night before their next game when they are at home at MyState Bank Arena to Melbourne United.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2026/27 | ROUND 2

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 87 lost to Cairns Taipans 93

Cairns Convention Centre, Wednesday September 23

Taran Armstrong | 20 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds
David Johnson | 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4/6 3PT
Will Magnay | 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks
Dakota Mathias | 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Nick Marshall | 13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists
Ben Gold | 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block
Nick Stoddart | 1 point, 2 rebounds