Match Recap: NBL23 Round 4 vs Cairns Taipans

Written by Melbourne United Media

Melbourne United have gone down to the Cairns Taipans on Thursday night in a back and forth contest.

United got off to a strong start, scoring the opening pair of buckets through Dave Barlow and Isaac Humphres, before the Taipans hit back quickly, draining back to back threes.

After a slow stretch, triples from Chris Goulding and David Okwera helped the home side pull back in front, before their bench worked hard to maintain the lead to close the first period up 19-16.

After scoring four points in the first quarter, Xavier Rathan-Mayes starred in the second period, attacking the Taipans from all over the court.

XRM put up eight more points in the term while opening up opportunities for his teammates like CG43, who connected on another two three pointers.

Six straight points from Mirko Djeric and a four-point play from DJ Hogg put a stop to United's momentum, tying the game, before Ice came up with a pair of big-time plays.

The towering center toughed his way into the paint for a strong and-1 finish, before finding a cutting David Okwera for an easy bucket.

This run helped United pull ahead by six heading into the major break.

Melbourne came out firing to start the second half through its collection of dynamite scorers, pulling ahead by as many as 14 points, however Cairns answered with a huge run of their own.

The Taipans went on a 24-2 run through terrific defence and tough shot-making from the likes of Keanu Pinder and Shannon Scott.

Makuach Maluach helped end the run, sinking a triple from the corner and reducing the deficit to four points ahead of the final 10 minutes.

Needing a spark, Rayjon Tucker stepped up, putting in a pair of tough layups to tie the game before coming away with an emphatic block to get the crowd on their feet.

This, combined with a big triple from XRM, punctuated a 15-5 run and had United poised to take away an important home victory, however Cairns had other ideas.

The snakes slowly chipped away at the Melbourne lead before ultimately pulling in front thanks to a slick Pinder alley-oop.

United had a final chance to tie the game at the free-throw line with just seven second remaining, however the shots didn’t find the bottom of the net, resulting in a four point loss.

Melbourne will look to bounce back in a big way on Sunday afternoon when they host the Sydney Kings at 4pm for the Grassroots Game.

It’s looking like a sell-out, so get in quick to grab any remaining tickets!