Bullets claw back to beat gutsy Snakes

The Cairns Taipans showed enormous heart despite missing three starters and on a five-game losing run but the Brisbane Bullets overcame a 12-point final quarter deficit to claim the 92-88 Sunshine Stoush win.

The Snakes were on track for what would have been a courageous win at Cairns Convention Centre when leading by 12 points early in the final quarter, but the Bullets knew they had to dig deep and avoid falling to 2-5 themselves on the season.

After being down 12, the Bullets scored 24 of the next 31 points including huge three-point makes to Mitch Norton (two), James Batemon and Keandre Cook.

A block on a three-point attempt by Josh Bannan on Sam Waardenburg led to a finish in transition by Cook to make it a one-point game, and nine straight points Brisbane points sealed them the four-point victory away from home.

Batemon again stepped up as a scorer and shooter for Brisbane with 21 points including going 3/5 from deep with Cook adding 18 points and three assists, Bannan 16 points and five rebounds, and Tyrell Harrison 14 points and a monstrous 20 boards.

Captain Mitch Norton, in game 349, had 12 points and two assists as the Bullets made it three from their past four.

Bullets coach Justin Schueller was impressed with how his team dug deep to come back to get the win.

"We knew we were coming into a battle even with how much they were dealing with injuries, and the way we responded when we got down was the most pleasing thing," he said.

"How we got down is the thing that we will look at and keep trying to work on, but the resolve in the group and the big moments we needed, guys stepped up.

"There was Norto's three in the corner, key stops and I'm really, really proud of those moments."

The Taipans came into the first Sunshine Stoush contest of NBL25 missing starting trio Pedro Bradshaw (ankle), Taran Armstrong (ankle) and Tanner Groves (calf), and having lost by 43 points on Sunday to Melbourne United.

Cairns coach Adam Forde started development player Alex Higgins-Titsha who grabbed his opportunity with 11 points to go with 11 rebounds while experienced guards Kyle Adnam and Tad Dufelmeier didn’t hit the floor.

New signing Deshon Taylor, as an injury replacement for Bradshaw, also didn’t suit up for the Taipans.

They still put themselves in a position to avoid a sixth straight loss with Rob Edwards putting up 27 points and three assists with 7/12 shooting from long-range.

Sam Waardenburg added 21 points and eight rebounds, and Jackson Makoi 13 points and four assists.

Taipans coach Adam Forde couldn't fault his team's effort and was proud of what they produced.

"This is the sum of us in a nutshell at the moment with so many key pieces out, and it's the fourth game in-a-row where we haven’t been able to close out the fourth quarter," he said.

"But to everybody's credit, they played hard and we just need a few extra hands to close out that fourth."

The signs were ominous early with Tyrell Harrison scoring six quick point sand helping the Bullets to the 13-7 lead but the Taipans steadied things after a timeout from Adam Forde.

The Snakes answered with five more points from Rob Edwards and another four from development player Alex Higgins-Titsha, but three bombs from deep by James Batemon helped the Bullets to the 23-18 edge after one.

The Taipans shot themselves back into it to start the second quarter thanks to triples from Jonah Antonio and Edwards, and when Edwards knocked down his third long ball the home team was in front with the momentum.

It was then bucket for bucket for most of the rest of the first half before the Snakes finished off with the last six points with five of those from Sam Waardenburg to see them lead 44-41 by half-time with Waardenburg also with a huge block on the buzzer on a driving Batemon.

The Taipans' big guns then caught fire to start the second half with both Waardenburg and Edwards hitting three balls as part of an 11-0 that saw the home team open up a 12-point advantage.

The Snakes were still leading by nine going into three quarter-time before three free-throws to Jonah Antonio to start their fourth saw their lead out to 12.

That’s when the Bullets dug deep beginning with three-point bombs to Mitch Norton and Batemon as part of an 8-0 run. Cook then scored five straight points himself before Norton started another 9-0 run for the visitors.

That saw them leading by five and it still got hairy late, but they held on for the four-point victory over the tenacious home team.

The Bullets are now back home on Thursday night to play host to Melbourne United while the Taipans don't play again until being in Melbourne against the South East Melbourne Phoenix next Sunday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

CAIRNS TAIPANS 88 (Edwards 27, Waardenburg 21, Makoi 13)

BRISBANE BULLETS 92 (Batemon 21, Cook 18, Bannan 16)

BOX SCORE