CAIRNS FORCE THIRD GAME IN PERTH
Hosts win opening thriller by single point in overtime
IN an instant all-time classic NBL finals game, the Taipans just fell short of claiming the upset and early series lead.
Cairns’ leading men, Scott Machado and DJ Newbill, landed some huge shots late on, but it was the two-time NBL MVP, Bryce Cotton, who would lift his side in crunch time.
In the extra five minutes, league MVP Perth’s Cotton was the difference in the end as he made clutch play after clutch play when it mattered.
“It took everything we had,” Cotton said post-game after the Wildcats’ 108-107 win in overtime.
“Cairns kept coming at us.” Cotton collected a massive game-high 42 points in a game-winning performance for the little master.
Cotton also handed out six assists and made his 42 points on 14-26 shooting and 10-19 from deep.
Taipans coach Mike Kelly was pleased with the way his group fought in the opening game of the series, but thought the 17 turnovers was way too many.
“There’s some frustration there but also pride in the way the guys stood up and played through some mistakes, and some shot making by the Wildcats,” Kelly said.
“We turned the ball over too much, you just can’t turn the ball over here and you can’t give up a lot of offensive rebounds. They got a lot more shots than us (16). We shot the ball really well but didn’t get enough of the ball, or enough shots up. They kept up the pressure and we turned the ball over.”
The hosts had all the momentum in the final term but Cairns forced an overtime period in one of the games of the season so far.
The Snakes never gave in as Machado, Fabijan Krslovic and Mirko Djeric landed long bombs with around three minutes to play in the fourth term as they looked to just be hanging on.
Club MVP Machado had a tough mid-range jumper to win it at the end of regulation but was well guarded by Townsville product Mitch Norton.
Forward Krslovic also had a difficult shot that would have won it in the next possession but was also well defended by Perth.
Co-captain Newbill (25 points) also came up huge for the Snakes as he made key buckets in the extra period to give the Snakes a chance.
Machado had another deep shot to send it to double overtime, but missed, handing Perth a 1-0 lead.
While Machado missed the three to send it to a second overtime, he grabbed his own rebound and put the ball in as the clock expired to bring the contest back to just one point.
Point guard Machado was Cairns’ best, finishing with 31 points and handing out nine assists.
Cairns were the better side for the first half against the NBL’s defending champions but they could not keep the momentum rolling.
Earlier in the evening, import forward Cameron Oliver was on target from range, draining two from deep. He finished with a game high 18 rebounds as he controlled the boards.
But there was another American in opposite colours doing the same. League MVP Cotton had 14 points inside the first term as he pushed the hosts advantage out to nine points before quarter-time.