The Cairns Taipans had every reason to think everything was stacked against them, but a Lat Mayen walk-off three-pointer delivered them a stunning 93-92 road NBL victory over the Illawarra Hawks.
Despite having key trio Tahjere McCall, Akoldah Gak and Taran Armstrong fouling out, and big men Sam Waardenburg and Bobi Klintman not playing, the Snakes wouldn’t be denied at WIN Entertainment Centre on Thursday night.
Taipans coach Adam Forde was proud of how his team didn’t let a lopsided foul count (32 free-throws for Illawarra to 11 from Cairns) distract them.
"I can't fault the effort and hustle of the guys, and if anybody was losing their mind out there it was me with the way the game was officiated," he said.
"For us to be able to trust whoever we put on the floor and do their part in it, it was outstanding."
Fouls continued to plague the Taipans, with Gak (five points, 11 rebounds) and Armstrong (nine points, six assists, six rebounds) fouling out early in the fourth.
McCall (28 points, seven rebounds, six assists) joined them late after his starring performance.
The Snakes were up against it from a personnel front, with the challenge of stopping the Illawarra big men daunting. That proved the case too, with Gary Clark threatening to play match-winner for the Hawks.
The NBA veteran of 177 games produced his best performance in the NBL for the Hawks with 36 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the floor and 10-of-14 at the foul line, but it wasn’t enough.
The Taipans worked their way on top in the second quarter to go into half-time leading 44-40.
They remained narrow leaders for most of the second half, including by five points with three minutes to play after a triple from Bul Kuol (14 points) on a Josh Roberts offensive rebound.
Tyler Harvey (13 points, six assists) produced a trademark late three to tie up scores for Illawarra soon after.
Clark produced a three-point play to get McCall out of the game, and the Hawks were up 92-90 with 12 seconds to go.
That set up the final possession, and after Patrick Miller (16 points, five assists) missed a driving attempt, he was able to collect the offensive rebound and dish out to a wide-open Mayen.
The forward has never lacked confidence and his three-point attempt never looked like missing.
Mayen finished with 11 points and delivered the Snakes the one-point win to improve to 11-12 and replace the Hawks (9-11) in sixth position.
"Allowing 29 second-chance points and us going 20-of-32 from the free-throw line, that's what I was most frustrated with," said a frustrated Hawks coach Justin Tatum.
"We were adamant on working on our free-throws the last couple of days because it's something that was our kryptonite, and missing those shots meant we were unable put the game away, or to give us the lead."
