Alan Williams stars as Phoenix beat Taipans

Big man Alan Williams has cemented his status as an NBL MVP contender by guiding the South East Melbourne Phoenix to a 91-78 defeat of the Cairns Taipans.

The Phoenix led for the majority of Sunday's game at John Cain Arena in front of 7511 fans but did not appear assured of victory until the final two minutes.

When star front court partner Mitch Creek (21 points, 11 rebounds) hit back-to-back baskets after Williams fouled out, the lead was 14 points and the Phoenix appeared home.

Under new coach Mike Kelly, South East Melbourne have won five of their past six games to remain entrenched in a top four position at 6-4 having won all five matches inside The Firepit.

"Huge possession game, the guys did a great job of continuing to attack those O-boards, which was good," Kelly said.

"They took care of the ball for the most part. It was the little things like that that were key for us."

When he was fouled pulling down a defensive rebound, Williams (18 points, 15 rebounds) went to the charity stripe to confirm his double-double by half-time. He has three from five games this season. 

On the defensive end, the American blocked Bobi Klintman with 20 seconds left in the third quarter as the talented Next Star looked to cut Cairns' deficit to three points.

Instead, the Phoenix marched up court where Creek iced a three for an eight-point lead at the final change.

As he did in his side's last-start loss, Williams ran into foul trouble late on but demonstrated his importance when he came back on to restore a game-high 10-point lead in the final quarter.

The Phoenix did a strong job on the boards outrebounding Cairns 52 to 38 including pulling down 18 offensive boards and scoring 52 points in the paint to X and getting to the line 30 times despite making just 21 of the free-throws.

Along with the performances of Creek and Williams, Gary Browne was again terrific as point guard in the absence of Will Cummings with 14 points and eight assists with Matt Kenyon adding 12 points, Ben Ayre 10 and Reuben Te Rangi 10.

Semi-finalists last season, Cairns have lost three of four games since returning from their trip to the USA for two games against NBA teams, including back-to-back games in Round 6.

The Taipans rued their 65 per cent shooting from the free-throw line and cried out for the composure of injured guard Patrick Miller (back) down the stretch.

"We sucked, we were terrible. Let's call it for what it is, it was a bad basketball game," said Taipans coach Adam Forde.

"I think this was the first time we broke a little bit mentally.

"We should be better and we will be better."

Fellow guards Taran Armstrong (12 points, four rebounds, four turnovers) and Tahjere McCall (eight points, 10 rebounds) have both only just returned this weekend too for the Snakes.

Sam Waardenburg will be crying out for the break until Cairns plays again on Saturday at home to Illawarra after carrying a significant workload again in 29 minutes for 12 points. His frustration did spill overe in the third quarter when he picked up two quick fouls and then remonstrated when heading to the bench.

However, with him just subbed out in time by coach Adam Forde, he avoided teh technical going against him which would have ended his game early.

Lat Mayen also finished with 12 points and six rebounds for the Snakes with Bul Kuol playing almost 39 minutes again for 11 points, four boards and four assists with Next Star Bobi Klintman contributing 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL INDIGENOUS ROUND

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 91 (Creek 21, Williams 18, Browne 14)

CAIRNS TAIPANS 78 (Waardenburg 12, Armstrong 12, Mayen 12)

BOX SCORE