Silverdome curse strikes JackJumpers again

The struggles of the Tasmania JackJumpers at The Silverdome continued with the Cairns Taipans able to end their NBL losing run by coming away with the eventual 75-69 victory.

The JackJumpers arrived in Launceston having lost six of their eight games at their second home and having struggled to shoot and score previously, and that trend continued against a Cairns team who were on a seven-game losing run.

In the end, the Taipans with Jack McVeigh leading the way against his old team led for most of the evening before securing the eventual six-point victory.

For whatever reason it was a tough offensive night inside The Silverdome for the JackJumpers as they finished off going 38 per cent from the field with 4/25 from three-point territory.

That was despite Tasmania winning the rebound count by 14 against Cairns including pulling down 16 turnovers and only sending the Snakes to the foul line three times in the opening three quarters.

The JackJumpers got there 23 times themselves for the game to make 15 while also only having nine turnovers but ultimately Tasmania just couldn’t make enough shots.

Bryce Hamilton top-scored once again for the JackJumpers with 21 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.

Big men Will Magnay (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Josh Bannan (12 points, 12 boards) again battled hard with Majok Deng adding nine points and six rebounds.

Tyger Campbell also ended up with eight points and two assists, and Nick Marshall six points, four rebounds and two assists.

It was largely a three-man show at the offensive end for the Taipans which included former JackJumpers hero Jack McVeigh. He finished with 23 points and six rebounds.

Andrew Andrews also had 27 points on perfect 4/4 three-point shooting with Admiral Schofield adding 18 points and six rebounds with the Snakes having just three turnovers for the game.

In his first game in The Silverdome, Bryce Hamilton made the perfect start with a three-pointer to open the game's scoring but Cairns scored 16 of the next 18 points including former Tasmania hero Jack McVeigh hitting a pair of triples.

That saw the Taipans leading 16-5 before the JackJumpers did score the last nine points of the opening term to cut the lead of the visitors to 18-15 at quarter-time.

Ben Ayre then converted a technical foul shot to start the second quarter but the JackJumpers were playing catch up and by half-time it was Cairns still leading 40-31 with McVeigh and Admiral Schofield combining for 30 points on 5/7 three-point shooting.

Tasmania were shooting just 34 per cent from the field with 2/9 from deep but they were able to outscore the Taipans 18 points to 14 in the third quarter to be back within five by three quarter-time.

A 7-0 run early in the fourth term capped off by a Majok Deng three ball had the JackJumpers back within a point, and soon after Hamilton scored in the mid-range to tie scores up.

However, the Taipans continued to have all the answers and went on another 7-0 scoring run to be leading by nine once again and then closed out the game at the foul line for the six-point road victory for another tough JackJumpers loss in Launceston.

The JackJumpers are back in Launceston for another game in The Silverdome against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday before returning to MyState Bank Arena on Saturday to play host to the Brisbane Bullets.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 69 (Hamilton 21, Bannan 12, Campbell 10, Magnay 10)

CAIRNS TAIPANS 75 (Andrews 27, McVeigh 23, Schofield 18)

BOX SCORE