NBL27 Match Recap: Melbourne United vs Cairns Taipans. 31 October 2026.

In their second meeting of the year, Melbourne United have leveled their record with the Cairns Taipans, and their record for the season, with a huge win inside Cairns Convention Centre. 

Despite a sloppy start that left United down 6-1 a minute and a half into the contest, Sam Waardenburg’s activity on defence led to a steal and easy slam for his side's first field-goal of the game.

A pair of triples from the Taipans extended their early lead, but a change in pace, and some physical imposition from Josh Oduro, steadied his team’s offence by generating two easy looks at the ring for back-to-back buckets. 

The big-man had eight of Melbourne’s first nine points as they battled an eight point deficit midway through the first period. 

A timely cut from Cole Anthony and slick pocket pass from Waardenburg led to the star guard’s first bucket, a wide open look to take the lid off the ring for United’s leading scorer. 

As Melbourne continued to rally, Luke Travers joined the party at the ring, with a crafty finish from deep under the goal to bring them back within six. 

Following another Taipans three point make, Oduro took matters into his own hands, backing down an opposition defender for a tough jump-hook off glass through contact for a three point trip down the floor. 

In his return to the floor after an injury riddled October, Chris Goulding came out firing, knocking down a tough three, bringing Melbourne back within one possession of a tie with two minutes left in the first. 

Melbourne’s 8-0 run to bring them within two was quickly responded to, as an unfortunate minute of basketball closed out the quarter with a 7-2 run for the home team, and gave the Taipans a 33-26 lead to end the first. 

Ingles, who has started this year as one of the league’s most efficient scorers off the bench, opened up the scoring in the second quarter, cashing in a wing three for his second triple of the contest off a clean feed from Tom Wilson. 

On United’s next scoring possession, Wilson got one of his own, knocking down a much needed corner three to cut Cairns’ lead to six.

The pace of the second quarter was frenetic, and noticeably faster than the first. An Ingles layup, Oduro dunk, and Anthony jumpshot all came within thirty seconds, three minutes into the period, however some defensive struggles meant Cairns were going point-for-point.

Refocusing, Anthony stripped the taipans on offence and threw the ball forward for a strong finish from Waardenburg, keeping the game in arms reach in the process.

With four minutes left in the quarter, Melbourne were down three, with a chance to level the playing field, but some tough-shot making in the face of good United defence meant the deficit grew in the following minutes.

A Kyle Bowen tip-in lit the flame under Melbourne’s feet after a dry spell, and kicked off a 7-2 run in the last 90 seconds of the quarter, a stark contrast from the end of the first; the points coming from a fancy finish for an and-1 for Anthony, and another right handed lay from Oduro to cut their deficit to three going into the break. 

In the face of red-hot shooting from the Taipans in the first half, Melbourne showed great resilience; a string of elite defensive possessions, and diligence in getting to the ring kept them in the game. 

Notably, United’s dynamic import duo, Anthony and Oduro, combined for 25 first half points; the second game in a row they’ve reached that mark in the first half. 

Another steal from Anthony, his third of the contest, and electrifying tomahawk slam, opened up the third with a bang, and was the first of three buckets 90 seconds into the half that gave United their first lead of the game. 

The other two buckets came from Travers, Melbourne’s swiss-army knife, who knocked down a three, grabbed a defensive rebound and ran down the floor for a layup on consecutive possessions. 

Their offensive barrage continued, this time at the hands of Anthony and Waardenburg, who hit a tough floater, and a wing three-pointer off a Fabian Krslovic steal, respectively. The stretch expanded their side’s lead to 63-57, three minutes into the period.

Anthony was making the third quarter his own, as he’s done a number of times this season, dropping in his sixth point of the period with another driving layup. 

After a slow stretch shrunk Melbourne’s lead, Ingles and Goulding dragged it back out with some veteran poise. 

A gorgeous over-the-head Ingles pass set the table for an open Goulding three, a shot he habitually knocks down, as he did this time. Ingles liked the look of the action, and repeated it two possessions later, this time shooting and making the three-ball himself. 

With a minute and a half left in the third, United had dominated the period 29-14; a drubbing which was accentuated by another make through contact for Oduro for his 19th point of the game. 

After a mini Taipans run cut United’s lead down to seven, Anthony settled the squad with a pull up jumper to bring his game tally above 20 once again. 

As time ticked down to close the third, the boys in blue locked in for a full 24 second defensive possession that forced a tough look for Cairns. Off the miss, Travers pushed the pace leading to an open three for Malith Machar, which he knocked down from the corner, his favourite spot on the floor. 

The three was one of many in the period, and gave United an 85-73 lead heading into the fourth.

Oduro got another bucket while getting fouled to open the fourth, getting his sixth 20+ point game of the season, continuing his dominant form from the first three quarters. The big-man was 8/9 from the field to that point, and showed no signs of slowing down. 

A monster dunk from Waardenburg off another Ingles assist epitomised Melbourne’s second half. Dominance inside and poise with possession of the ball were highlights of United’s play, and was why they were up to a 19-point lead, 2 minutes into the quarter.

Anthony’s signature baseline fadeaway kept his hot-streak going, and took his game tally to 23, just below his season average for scoring. 

But the Taipans fought back, going on a 13-3 run over the next three minutes, a run which was clotted by Shea Ili’s first field goal of the game to stop the bleeding for Melbourne.

Over the next minute, Ingles took over with five straight points. A layup and another made three ballooned United’s lead back out to 16. The deep shot was his fourth of the game, an area of the floor from which he shot 4/5 for the contest. 

Anthony capped off his stellar performance with an explosive move to the ring for two, before being subbed out with two minutes left, and the win inevitable. 

Wilson and Travers closed out Melbourne’s highest scoring night, with back to back three-point trips down the floor to blow the lead out to 113-97 as the buzzer sounded to end the game. 

Oduro and Anthony finished the game with 26 and 25 points respectively, and for the second game in a row, combined for 50 points in a win.  

The contest and its result set the stage for United to get their record into the positive for the first time this year this Monday inside John Cain Arena. 

They will be taking on the New Zealand Breakers in the second game of their Hungry Jack’s Rookie Round double-header at 7:30pm on the 2nd of November. 

The game will be live on ESPN via Kayo or Disney+ if you can’t make it on the night. 

To celebrate tonight's win, fans can get 20% off all remaining tickets for United's next two home games here:

Nov 2 vs Breakers - https://bit.ly/4szaxEi
Nov 7 vs Bullets - https://bit.ly/4BA80xy
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FULL BOX SCORE AVAILABLE HERE

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