Bullets hold off Taipans in the Pre-Season

The Brisbane Bullets held off the Cairns Taipans at the NBL Blitz on Tuesday night, defeating their fellow Queensland rivals 77-76 in the top end.

It was all Cairns early as the Taipans came out firing, starting the game with a 20-4 run.

However, Brisbane were able to steady from there and eight quick points from Nathan Sobey helped cut the Cairns lead to 29-21 after the first quarter.

Devondrick Walker then helped spark Brisbane to score the opening nine points of the second period to claim the lead. Brisbane were strong on the glass with Harry Froling and Aron Baynes cleaning up the boards and giving their side second opportunities.

Both teams traded baskets before DJ Mitchell dropped consecutive three balls to give the Bullets 46-43 lead at half time.

Brisbane then opened the second half with three’s from Tanner Krebs and Walker, but Cairns Bul Kuol knocked down multiple triples and the Taipans remained close. with the Bullets holding a narrow four-point lead at three quarter time.

Walker then nailed a couple more three-pointers in the final quarter to keep the Bullets in front, but the Taipans continued to respond levelling the scores with five minutes remaining.

DJ Mitchell and Kuol knocked down buckets, with neither team able to break away.

The Taipans led by one with fifteen seconds remaining but a hustle play from Kody Stattmann, securing a steal and finding Tyler Johnson for the lay-up, sealed the win.Scoring was spread amongst the Bullets roster with five players finishing in double figures. Devondrick Walker led the Bullets with 16 points and 4/7 from beyond the arc.

DJ Mitchell put up 12 points and Harry Froling had strong contributions inside with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Along with the game winner, Johnson finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 4/8 shooting and Nathan Sobey made an impact in his limited minutes with 10 points and 5 rebounds.

Aron Baynes presence was felt on court with nine rebounds in 21 minutes.

The Bullets final game of the NBL Blitz is this Friday night against Melbourne United. Tip-off is at 8pm AEST.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL BLITZ GAME 2

BRISBANE BULLETS 77 (Walker 16, Mitchell 12, Froling 11) 

CAIRNS TAIPANS 76 (Kuol 21, Hogg 15, Davey 10)

BOX SCORE

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