Phoenix eat glass in victory against Taipans

South-East Melbourne has added yet another win to their tally with a 91-78 victory over the Cairns Taipans at John Cain Arena.

Phoenix, coming into today’s game with import guard Will Cummings and back-up centre Gorjok Gak out piled on the rebounds against the long but small Cairns line-up. Collecting 14 more rebounds than their opponents, with winning the offensive rebound count 16-4.

This came in a large part with Alan Williams’ 18 points and 15 rebound performance, growing his double double count for the season to a league-high three for the season.

However, he wasn’t alone in Phoenix’s relentless crashing of the glass with last seasons MVP candidate Mitch Creek having a double-double of his own (21 points, 11 rebounds).

Creek talked about the offensive rebounding of the team post-game coming up against such a physical and switchable Cairns team.

“I thought Matt Kenyon, Craig Moller, myself, ‘Sauce’ [Alan Williams], even the guards were coming in and creating not just second chance opportunities but also third and forth opportunities and possessions and that was a real back breaker for them tonight.”

Cairns were without import guard Patrick Miller, who has been playing in the form of a Most Valuable Player (18.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.4 steals). Taking his spot in the starting five was rookie Taran Armstrong, who has played his second game after coming back from various injuries.

He wasn’t up to his best in the first half (one point, three turnovers) but came out in the second and showed his worth. He finished with 14 points, pushing the Cairns tempo when nothing was working for them.

Cairns now go home to play Illawarra on Saturday, while the Phoenix face off against Melbourne United in the second Throwdown of the season on Sunday.

Top Scorers

SEM Phoenix

• Alan Williams – 18 points, 15 rebounds (six offensive), two assists, one block
• Mitch Creek – 21 points, 11 rebounds (five offensive), one assist, one steal
• Gary Browne – 14 points, three rebounds, eight assists
• Matt Kenyon – 12 points, six rebounds, three steals

Cairns Taipans

• Lat Mayen – 12 points, six rebounds, one assist
• Sam Waardenburg – 12 points, two rebounds, two assists
• Taran Armstrong – 12 points, four rebounds
• Bul Kuol – 11 points, four rebounds, four assists