STANLEY MATCH REPORT: Phoenix hit 21 threes to sink Taipans

The South East Melbourne Phoenix were down double figures early but caught fire eventually to blow the Cairns Taipans away and win by 27.

The South East Melbourne Phoenix shook off a slow start to put up another monster score while hitting a franchise record 21 three-pointers to beat the Cairns Taipans 118-91 with Ian Clark, Angus Glover and Wes Iwundu hitting five apiece.

The Taipans came out to end a long trip having spent a week in Perth playing with great freedom early at Melbourne's State Basketball Centre to be leading 26-16 against the second-placed Phoenix at quarter-time.

Cairns went on to be leading by as much as 14 points and still went into half-time leading 52-49 despite South East Melbourne warming to the task in the second quarter with 33 points.

The Phoenix were then unstoppable throughout the second half with the Taipans not having the depth to run with them with the home team piling on 69 points to 39 on the back of their 74-point first half performance in Wednesday night's win over the New Zealand Breakers.

South East Melbourne set a new franchise record with the 21 three-point makes from 41 attempts with Iwundu (5/9), Clark (5/8) and Glover (5/8) combining for 15 of those with Nathan Sobey only making one with a season-low nine points but an impressive nine assists.

Glover finished with 22 points, Iwundu 21 and Clark 19 with Owen Foxwell producing 13 points and eight assists in his 100th NBL appearance with John Brown III contributing 10 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Cairns fought valiantly a lot of the game but just didn’t have the troops with too much left to Jack McVeigh and Andrew Andrews.

McVeigh finished with 21 points and six rebounds but also seven turnovers with Andrews also having six turnovers but 20 points and 11 assists.

Kyrin Galloway chipped in with 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks, Lachlan Barker 11 points and three assists, and Mojave King 10 points and eight rebounds.

Cairns raced to a 20-6 lead against a Phoenix outfit riddled by turnovers.

The Taipans, who hit nine of their first 14 three-point attempts, gradually became stifled by the Phoenix's defensive press in the second term, their lead trimmed to 52-49 at half-time.

McVeigh had 15 first-half points, including a circus-trick three-point play, a velvety skyhook and a crafty spin move.

However, McVeigh was as frustrated with his teammates as anything through the first half and vented that in a half-time interview calling some of them out for not being ready to play.

It also spilled over when veteran import centre Marcus Lee interfered with his shot attempt on the rim and was called for basket interference denying McVeigh two points leading to a tense exchange between the teammates.

McVeigh's mood only darkened when the Phoenix scored 10 straight points early in the third quarter, hitting the lead for the first time on Clark's pull-up trey with 7:30 on the clock.

A clearly annoyed McVeigh committed an offensive foul with an elbow to South East Melbourne import John Brown III, then seconds later earned an unsportsmanlike foul when he dropped a shoulder to bowl Glover over.

Clark caught fire in the third quarter, while nothing went right at the other end for the Taipans, who suddenly trailed 81-67 at three quarter-time, before they continued to be blown apart in the fourth.

The Phoenix are now right back to Perth after just being there for HoopsFest for a crucial Wednesday night Ignite Cup match up with the Wildcats

FULL TIME STATS

Glover: 22p/5a/1stl
Iwundu: 21p/4r/3a
Clark: 19p/1r/5a
Foxwell: 13p/5r/8a/4stl
Brown III: 10p/8r/2a/3stl
Sobey: 9p/2r/9a/1stl
Mitchell: 9p/1r/1blk
Hunter: 7p/6r/1blk
Lewis: 6p/4r/1a/2stl
Foster: 1p
Rosendale: 1p
Ryan: 1r

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