TASMANIA JackJumpers made it four straight NBL wins with a nine-point victory over Cairns Taipans at MyState Bank Arena last night. In front of more than 4000 fans, the JackJumpers led following a high scoring first term, but found themselves down by the main break. Once they got back on top they held firm to come away with the 99-90 triumph.

After a slow start to the season which saw last year’s premiers slip to a 3-8 record after 11 games, the JackJumpers have clicked into gear in the past four games and are now just one win away from levelling their win-loss record in the 2024 NBL season.

The even contribution from the home side resulted in a vital 43 points off the bench to Cairns’ 11, with Milton Doyle top score of 21 points one of five in double-figures from the Jackies. He also helped himself to dish off a match-high seven assists, while Will Magnay pulled in 13 rebounds, six more than anyone else on the court en route to a double-double with 18 points.

After a high-scoring first term of 61 combined points – and a JackJumpers lead of 31-30 – the Taipans were able to somewhat silence the crowd as they scored 24 points to 21. Sam Waardenburg shot eight points in the term and Taran Armstrong finished off strongly late for the visitors to lead by two at the main break.

Unfortunately for the Taipans, they relied on too few to put points up, with Armstrong sinking four of eight from beyond the arc – and nine of 18 from the field – for a total score of 29 points, while Waardenburg and Tanner Groves put up 19 apiece. Waardenburg was the pick of the visitors with seven rebounds and six assists – team-highs in both categories.

However the even spread of scorers from the JackJumpers – including a well-rounded 14 points and six rebounds from Sean Macdonald and a strong effort off the bench from Majok Deng (17 points, six. rebounds and three assists) proved too much for the visitors to handle.

Tasmania JackJumpers coach Scott Roth praised his opposition coach Adam Forde given the injuries the side had suffered this season and conceded the Snakes had been in a “tough stretch”, losing their 10th game on the trot. However Roth could see the signs of a turnaround.

“They’re going to be a handful moving forward if they are to remain healthy and they were fantastic I thought,” Roth said post-match. “I thought Taran Armstrong was just wonderful. He’s a wonderful player, the best I’ve seen him shoot the three ball like that. He was really fantastic.

“Second half swung a little bit towards us and we settled ourselves defensively in some areas and I think it was a 36-point second half, and the positive out of that was we just stayed resilient in the fourth quarter and did what we do and the other big positive is we got to 99 points which is incredible.”

The JackJumpers get to rest up for seven days before trekking down to Eventfinda Stadium to face the Breakers, while Cairns have the quicker turnaround when taking on South East Melbourne Phoenix at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.

AROUND THE COURTS

Further south, Melbourne United made it five wins on the bounce with a comprehensive 27-point thrashing of the struggling New Zealand Breakers. The Breakers remain in third spot but have dropped their past three matches, going down 97-70 at Wolfbrook Arena on Thursday night.

Robert Loe put in a strong shooting performance to top score with 25 points, while Jack White picked up a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Matthew Dellavedova and Shea Ili provided the playmaking with a combined 20 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds on the night.

For the Breakers, Parker Jackson-Cartwright was limited to 14 points in 24 minutes, as Sam Mennenga and Matt Mooney shared the leading scorer title with 17 apiece. They also had four rebounds and two assists in an identical statline. Max Darling tried hard coming off the pine with 12 points and six rebounds in under 18 minutes.

New Zealand remains at home for a Saturday night clash against Sydney Kings at TSB Arena, while United heads back to Melbourne for a Sunday afternoon battle against Brisbane Bullets.