Undermanned Bullets battle hard but fall to Taipans

In their final game of the NBL22 season, the Bullets fell 112-98, to the Taipans on Saturday night in Cairns.

It was a tough way for the Bullets to end their season, on the road, with only seven players able to hit the floor.  Nathan Sobey, Lamar Patterson, Ty Harrison, Jack Salt, Isaiah Moss, Tamuri Wigness, Tom Digbeu and Max Mackinnon were all unavailable for the game.

Those that took the floor battled hard for the full 40 minutes, but fatigue got the better of the undermanned line-up in patches of the game.

While the Taipans took full advantage, they had to come from 11 points down early in the second quarter. However, from that point the Snakes were able to outscore the Bullets 88 points to 63 the rest of the way, buoyed by their home crowd at the Cairns Convention Centre. Cairns Guard, Tahjere McCall had a standout night, finishing with 42 points and 10 assists.

For Brisbane, Robert Franks was again impressive. finishing with 30 points and 15 rebounds. Despite early foul trouble and having to sit majority of the opening quarter, Franks retrieved his 12th double-double of the season for Brisbane, second in the league in that category.

Tanner Krebs added a career best 20 points, Taane Samuel also had a career high of 14 points and four rebounds, Deng Deng 12 points and eight boards, and Anthony Drmic 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

In his 249^th consecutive NBL game, it was Jason Cadee who broke the deadlock with a triple to open the scoring in the game. Majok Deng responded in kind and turned it into a four-point play for Cairns.

Both teams warmed to the task from there with Deng Deng and Drmic hitting triples for Brisbane and Taane Samuel taking full advantage of his first start with seven points to see Brisbane lead 25-20 despite the 10 points for the Snakes from Tahjere McCall.

The Bullets then started the second quarter on fire including three balls to Robert Franks and Samuel as their lead grew to 11. The Snakes had to respond and they did, with Tahjere McCall and Majok Deng doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

By half-time it was Cairns leading 49-43 with McCall, Deng and Pinder combining for 46 points and 17 rebounds with the rest of the team contributing three points and three boards.

The Taipans kept that momentum, starting the second half with the opening four points. Bul Kuol then drained a three and McCall threw down a dunk and suddenly the home team was leading by 13.

While Tanner Krebs answered with five quick points for Brisbane, Cairns were on a roll and not about to let it slip on their home floor. McCall added another nine points as he revved up the Orange Army.

The Taipans' lead got out to 28 points during the fourth quarter, but the Bullets  kept fighting, outscoring the Taipans 37-31 in the last quarter to bring the final margin back 14.

Following the game, Robert Franks while not happy with the loss, was proud of the fight the seven players that took the court showed.

“I don’t think people understand if you’re not in our situation, how tough it is to play another professional team with only seven players,” Franks said.

“Fatigue got the best of us in the second half, we got winded and obviously it showed. But hats off to those guys that suited up with me and went to war one last time.”

When asked about his overall experience this season, Franks was honest about the highs and lows the team faced.

“Losing is never fun and you don’t want to have a losing record.”

But was quick to show love to the Bullets fans and the city of Brisbane.

“I love Brisbane. It’s a great city, great fan base and great club,” Franks continued.

“This is a great league, very competitive and I’ve enjoyed my time here in the NBL and in Brisbane.”

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 21

CAIRNS TAIPANS 112 (McCall 42, Deng 30, Pinder 17)

BRISBANE BULLETS 98 (Franks 30, Krebs 20, Samuel 14) 

BOX SCORE