IN THE first meeting between Jack McVeigh and his former side in the Tasmania JackJumpers, it was the latter who took home the chocolates, claiming a two-point win over the Cairns Taipans in the NBL Blitz last night.

In fitting fashion, it was McVeigh who did all he could to drag his team to victory, forcing overtime with a clutch basket late in fourth quarter over former teammate and Boomers captain Will Magnay in a play that perfectly demonstrated why the Taipans pursued his services.

However, it was JackJumpers recruit Josh Bannan who had the last laugh, nailing the go-ahead basket with less than a second on the clock as Tassie held on for a thrilling win to kickstart their NBL Blitz campaign.

Cairns Taipans (95) def. by Tasmania JackJumpers (97)

It was a tough start to proceedings for the Taipans, who missed their first seven shots of the match and allowed the JackJumpers to push out to a hefty lead. At the first change, Tasmania held an 11-point buffer with inaccuracy costing Cairns big time at AIS Arena.

However, the Taipans flicked a switch after quarter time, catching fire from behind the arc in a blistering offensive performance from Adam Forde‘s men. Cairns dropped nine threes from 12 attempts to post 33 points in the quarter and bring the margin back within five points despite some consistent offence from the JackJumpers.

The Taipans kept their momentum rolling into the third quarter, continuing to put the pressure on Tasmania and even pushing out to a strong nine-point buffer on the scoreboard, before the JackJumpers had some crucial makes late in the frame, still leading by one point at the final change.

As the final minutes of the fourth quarter approached, it was still anyone’s game, and the big guns were injected back into the game to close out proceedings. With his team trailing by two points, McVeigh caught the ball from outside the three-point line, driving slightly past Magnay and throwing up a high-arcing floater that hit the backboard and fell in, forcing overtime in another clutch play from the star recruit.

Magnay was not one to roll over however, bouncing back to record back to back blocks (in the same possession) on Kyrin Galloway to swing momentum back Tasmania’s way. This time, it was the JackJumpers who had the ball on the last possession, and Bannan proved the hero with a nice driving finish at the cup that showcased his impressive hangtime and wingspan as Tassie held on in a match that had 23 lead changes.

Bannan was excellent all game for the JackJumpers, impressing in his new colours with a strong double-double of 22 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals on an accurate 10/14 shooting from the field. Imports Bryce Hamilton (25 points, seven rebounds) and Tyger Campbell (14 points, eight assists) were also strong in their debuts.

McVeigh was strong for the Taipans in his first outing with the team, doing a bit of everything to finish with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists, while import Admiral Schofield was excellent in his first performance with Cairns, nailing six triples to finish with 24 points.

The other Blitz match to take place on Thursday night saw the import trio of Javon Freeman-Liberty (27 points, 9/11 FG, five rebounds, four assists), Jaylen Adams (18 points, six assists) and Casey Prather (16 points, 3/5 3PT) lead the Brisbane Bullets to an eight-point win over the Sydney Kings.