Terrific JackJumpers bounce back in Cairns

The rollercoaster ride of teams in the NBL23 playoff hunt continued on Friday night with the Tasmania JackJumpers bouncing back to end the six-game winning streak of the Cairns Taipans, prevailing 85-77.

The JackJumpers arrived at the Cairns Convention Centre fresh off losing in Launceston to the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Wednesday night while the Snakes had won six straight all without superstar Keanu Pinder.

Pinder was back on Friday night but with the Taipans trying to consolidate second and the JackJumpers attempting to get back to the top four, there was plenty at stake for both teams.

It was a damn ugly first half with 26 combined turnovers and neither team shooting well, but it remained tight and it was a second half of runs for both teams.

The JackJumpers did go up 12 during the third quarter, but the Taipans fired back and were back in front with the first eight points of the fourth. They were still up three when DJ Hogg drained a three with four minutes to play.

However, the Snakes would not score again, the JackJumpers hit the last 11 points of the game including two three balls to Jack McVeigh and another to Milton Doyle to secure the crucial eight-point road win.

The victory returns Tasmania to fourth position with a 14-11 record while Cairns stays second at 16-8 with a first loss of 2023.

Jack McVeigh finished with 18 points on 7/11 shooting and 3/4 from deep for Tasmania with Matt Kenyon putting up 15 points having scored three points in his three games back.

Josh Magette added 14 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Milton Doyle 12 points, eight assists, six rebounds and six steals. 

JackJumpers coach Scott Roth was delighted with the response to Wednesday's loss to go into Cairns and get the win.

"This win was a great credit to our guys with the grit and grind, defend the island motto of what we do," Roth said. 

"To bounce back after a tough one and come into this type of building against that type of team, and to walk out of here with the win is obviously really good for all of us. 

"I think the other thing is that it was kind of similar to our second game in Tasmania where we made a few more plays than them tonight, but last time they did. It was just a tough battle and they've got a hell of a team, and Fordey is Coach of the Year in my eyes. 

"When you win on the road, you just stay humble and move on and be happy that you got out of the building."

You would have received good odds on Matt Kenyon scoring Tasmania's first five points of the game, but that's exactly what happened and when Rashard Kelly hit an open three ball too, the visitors led 8-3 after three minutes.

Adam Forde took out Keanu Pinder for Tahjere McCall and the Taipans responded to a timeout first with a triple from Shannon Scott. McCall then scored, DJ Hogg converted a three-point play and then a couple of buckets to the returning Pinder, including a dunk, saw the Taipans go up 15-8.

Tasmania responded with the next six points starting with a three-pointer from Jarrad Weeks before Cairns led 17-14 at quarter-time with a late score to Ben Ayre.

While the Snakes shot 50 per cent for the quarter, six turnovers halted their progress while the JackJumpers shot just 31 per cent with 5/16.

Milton Doyle scored the first couple of buckets of the second quarter for Tasmania to regain the lead before captain Clint Steindl hit one from deep to keep his team on top.

Sam Waardenburg and Doyle then traded threes, but the longer the half went the more the turnovers began to mount and the sloppier the play from both teams became.

In the end, Kenyon scored Tasmania's last six points of the half to lead the game with 11 points on 4/5 shooting with the JackJumpers leading 34-30, but it had been anything but pretty stuff.

By half-time, both teams had 13 turnovers apiece while the JackJumpers were shooting at just 41 per cent and the Taipans 33.

Tasmania made an impressive start to the second half beginning with scores to Josh Magette and Kelly. When Will Magnay scored his first points of the game and then Doyle added another bucket, they were out to an eight-point advantage.

That stretched to 12 on the back of three balls to Magette and Kenyon before the Taipans received a spark from Jonah Antonio. Despite not having scored since 10 points against Perth back on December 20, he came on and hit back-to-back threes for the Snakes.

However, the JackJumpers continued to have all the answers including long bombs from Magette and Sean Macdonald to keep them up 62-55 at three quarter-time.

Bul Kuol opened the fourth quarter with his second three of the game and then Hogg threw one down and suddenly it was a two-point ball game. That gave Hogg the confidence to drain a three and after just 83 seconds of the quarter, the Snakes were back in front.

After a Scott Roth timeout, Magette landed one from deep to return Tasmania to the lead and from there both teams kept trading blows with so much riding on the result.

Eventually just as Cairns were grabbing momentum up three after a huge Hogg three, McVeigh responded with two from deep of his own for the JackJumpers to back up three.

Magnay swatted a McCall layup with two minutes to go before Doyle landed another from long-range for the JackJumpers to go up six and they went on to win by eight. 

The JackJumpers return home to host the Sydney Kings on Friday night at MyState Bank Arena.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 16

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 85 (McVeigh 18, Kenyon 15, Magette 14)

CAIRNS TAIPANS 77 (Hogg 19, Kuol 17, Waardenburg 11, McCall 11) 

BOX SCORE