Snakes defy missing stars for stunning win

With Jack McVeigh unavailable and Sam Waardenburg and Reyne Smith still sidelined, the odds were stacked against the bottom placed Cairns Taipans but they shook that off to dominate the Illawarra Hawks for the 93-76 win.

The defending champion Hawks remained at home after an overtime win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday to host the Taipans and try to build some momentum.

While Cairns were hoping to be back to full strength after the FIBA break, it didn’t eventuate with Waardenburg and Smith still sidelined, and McVeigh unavailable while awaiting the birth of his first child.

The Snakes defied all of that to dominate from start to finish to end up winning by 17 points with Andrew Andrews leading the charge with the import point guard delivering an NBL best 27 points with six assists and five rebounds with 5/10 three-point shooting.

The Taipans arrived having lost 11 of their past 12 games but against all odds blew the contest wide open, with Andrews the star but he received plenty of help.

The Snakes pulled down 16 offensive rebounds for the game and dominated the all-round effort areas with Admiral Schofield benefitting from the FIBA break to freshen up and produce 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Kyrin Galloway stepped up in the front court absence of McVeigh and Waardenburg for 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds with Mojave King adding 12 points and two boards, and Marcus Lee 12 points, two rebounds and two assists.

Kody Stattmann was one player the Taipans regained from an injury layoff and he started to be +17 in his 26 minutes for five points, three assists and two rebounds.

Illawarra slipped to a 5-10 record, leaving them with plenty of work to do in their championship defence as inconsistency continues to plague them.

Daniel Grida was the surprise top-scorer for the Hawks with a career-high 18 points, while JaVale McGee tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds despite a tough shooting night going 6/17 from the field.

QJ Peterson, who drained 42 points in Illawarra's overtime victory over South East Melbourne 48 hours earlier, finished with just seven points on 1/8 shooting.

McGee, Peterson and Tyler Harvey all had rough shooting nights with the import trio finishing up going 12/39 from the field the Hawks.

Davo Hickey also threatened another triple-double ending up with 10 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and just the two turnovers.

Scores were locked at 20-20 at quarter-time but it was the Cairns show in the second term as the visitors silenced the home fans.

With Andrews and Galloway lighting it up from beyond the arc, the Taipans entered half-time with a dominant 49-34 advantage.

The rebound count read 26-13 in favour of Cairns in the first half, with Schofield and Galloway combining for 15 between them.

The offensive rebound count was even more damning, with the Snakes winning that 8-1.

The lead ballooned out to 23 points midway through the third as Cairns continued to fire, led by Andrews.

Grida helped Illawarra get some momentum back before three quarter-time, piling in 12 quick points to reduce the margin to 15.

Cairns looked wobbly midway through the final term as their lead was whittled down to six points, but Andrews ensured his team got over the line.

The Taipans now have seven days until playing host to the Tasmania JackJumpers next Saturday with the Hawks remaining at home on Thursday against the Brisbane Bullets.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 76 (Grida 18, McGee 17, Harvey 12)

CAIRNS TAIPANS 93 (Andrews 27, Schofield 17, Galloway 16)

BOX SCORE