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CAIRNS - A week of woe ended in a night of celebration for the Cairns Taipans when they kept their perfect home-court record intact with a 113-99 win over the New Zealand Breakers.
The victory came after the mid-week death of co-founder Jeff Hopgood and included major milestones for two of its leading lights in co-captains Darnell Mee and Anthony Stewart.
Mee played in his 300th NBL match while Stewart notched his 200th game with the Taipans.
The result halted an impressive week for the Breakers, which included wins over Melbourne and Adelaide. They became the fifth straight team to fail in Cairns this season.
Martin Cattalini's point-scoring spree continued and he netted 27 for the Taipans, while Aaron Grabau's 24 was invaluable and Mee added 18.
Breakers import Carlos Powell's hot streak continued with 25 points, while Ben Pepper had 18 and Brian Wethers hit 17.
The night began badly for the Breakers when they left some gaping holes in defence to allow the Taipans to slot six three-pointers in the first term and push out to a 37-25 quarter-time lead.
The Taipans' lead was reeled back in after just four minutes of the second quarter though, most of the damage being done by Powell, who lifted after a quiet first quarter to net 14 for the half.
A three-point play from Pepper put the Breakers in front for the first time and the sides were locked in an arm-wrestle until the main break where the Taipans led 59-55.
Six straight points from Mee put the Taipans 10 points clear at the start of the third quarter and they continued to press the advantage, some solid defence keeping the Breakers off the scoreboard for almost four minutes.
Grabau hit a three-point shot which put the Taipans 18 in front, their biggest lead for the game, going to the final break ahead 89-75.
Taipan Kevin Owens and Wethers fouled out in the final quarter as the Taipans maintained a healthy buffer to take out the win.
Taipans coach Alan Black said their home record was the key to his side's success this season.
"It's huge and it just goes to show what a factor the crowd are," Black said.
"I've got respect for the Breakers' personnel and they were one of the form teams.
"You can get a little blase with where teams are in the various positions on the ladder but, it's a tough league, and to win by that margin, I thought it was a good team effort."
Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis attributed the loss partly to a delayed flight into Cairns which saw his side arrive after midnight on Saturday.
"Obviously, we're disappointed in the outcome of the game," Lemanis said.
"Thinking about it and assessing it, I take a lot of the responsibility for it.
"We tried something with our travel schedule getting a direct flight from Auckland to Cairns and, because of that, I think we looked tired when we played.
"All the things that have been getting better and better for us [failed and] that was a result of us being tired."
- AAP
