Bullets fight valiantly in Sunshine Stoush

Terry Taylor heeded the call to be aggressive and the Brisbane Bullets had 25 offensive rebounds to take 25 more shots but their shooting again is what cost them a Sunshine Stoush win with the Cairns Taipans prevailing 81-72.

Bullets coach Darryl McDonald implored his team to give greater effort than they showed in a 44-point loss in Hobart to the Tasmania JackJumpers on Friday, and he couldn’t fault what they gave on Sunday at home at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

The competitive spirit was evident from the start from the Bullets and by the end of the game was best illustrated by them collecting 25 offensive rebounds to eight while also getting up 89 field goal attempts to 64 from the Taipans.

However, where the Bullets lost the game was in their shooting the ball. They ended up going 32/89 from the field at 36 per cent with 3/23 from three-point territory and even just 5/11 at the foul line.

It was Cairns' greater efficiency that got them over the line as the Taipans shot 44 per cent from the field with 8/29 from deep and 17/20 at the free-throw line.

Terry Taylor missed Friday's game with suspension but returned on a mission for the Bullets and produced his best performance of the season with 25 points and nine rebounds on 12/22 shooting.

Hunter Maldonado also finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Jacob Holt 13 points, 11 boards and two assists, Alex Ducas 11 points and three assists, Tohi Smith-Milner four points and four rebounds, Taine Murray four points, six boards and three assists, and captain Mitch Norton two points, six rebounds and four assists.

Jack McVeigh finished with 22 points for Cairns with 12 of those in the third quarter while Kody Stattmann added 15 points, Mojave King 13 with 11 rebounds, and Andrew Andrews 12 with 10 assists.

Terry Taylor was fresh from his enforced absence on Friday night and he opened the scoring to the game before Jacob Holt helped the Bullets to the 5-2 start.

Cairns did answer with the next nine points before Taine Murray steadied Brisbane but by quarter-time it was the Taipans leading 24-13 on the back of shooting 53 per cent from the field opposed to just the 22 from the Bullets.

Even though the Taipans maintained a double-figure lead for a lot of the second quarter, the Bullets kept on fighting and 13 offensive rebounds for the first half helped keep them in touch.

Hunter Maldonado made their lone three-pointer of the half too just before half-time and by the break Brisbane had cut the Cairns advantage back to just 43-36.

The Bullets were then on fire coming out of half-time scoring four quick points from Alex Ducas and Holt before Taylor and Ducas combined for a 5-0 run and suddenly it was a one-point ball game.

The Bullets managed to draw back level as well but couldn't quite get back in front with Jack McVeigh's 12 points in the quarter helping the Taipans to the 61-57 advantage heading into the fourth.

It was just a two-point ball game when Holt scored to open the fourth quarter too but that would be as close as the Bullets got even though they never gave up the fight with the Taipans ending up winning by nine with two late three-pointers from Andrew Andrews sealing the deal.

The Bullets now have just two games in their season remaining starting this Friday night in Perth against the Wildcats before finishing at home to the Sydney Kings the following Friday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26 – ROUND 20

BRISBANE BULLETS 72 (Taylor 25, Maldonado 13, Holt 13)

CAIRNS TAIPANS 81 (McVeigh 22, Stattmann 15, King 13)

BOX SCORE