By: Lendl Ryan, Sportal
The Cairns Taipans will face off against the New Zealand Breakers in the iiNet NBL Grand Final series after defeating the Townsville Crocodiles 93-83 in game three of their semi-final play-off at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on Sunday.
Daniel Dillon (21 points), Dusty Rychart (16) and Ayinde Ubaka (15) did the damage for the Taipans to overshadow the heroics of the Crocodiles' Peter Crawford (29) and the hard work of Michael Cedar (16) and Luke Schenscher (13).
The Taipans once again left the Crocodiles with second-quarter blues, outscoring them by 12 points to create a 10 point margin after a tight opening quarter before holding on for the win.
Crawford had threatened to give the homeside, which had not been to a grand final series since 2001, a miracle win with a giant final quarter littered with threes but Dillon and co weren't going to let up.
Townsville raced to a 9-4 lead with big game player Peter Crawford finding the net from long-range as well as in the paint.
Cairns replied through Ian Crosswhite to claim the lead 10-9 with five minutes in the quarter gone.
Crawford drained another big three on his way to eight for the quarter to send an early warning to the visitors that if they were to win he had to be stopped.
Michael Cedar pulled up on the arc and shot truly to keep the homeside in front 15-12.
Ben Allen caught the three-point bug before Cedar chipped in with another triple to give the homeside a 22-17 lead at quarter time.
The Taipans went on an eight-point run after the break with Dusty Rychart finding the net three times and forcing a turn over to take the lead 25-22.
The Crocodiles were suddenly staring down the barrel of another second-quarter demolition like in game two when they conceded 29 points,
Aaron Grabau took it a step closer to reality with two quick three pointers to extend the margin into double figures 37-27 for the first time in the night.
Crawford charged into the paint to receive the ball, draw the foul and score after clever ball movement to give the homeside some inspiration.
Rosell Ellis and fellow tall Luke Schenscher answered the call, dominating the paint for a basket each to close reduce the margin to 38-45 at half-time.
Townsville maintained the momentum after the break with Cedar finding his range with two unanswered three-pointers to bring them within a point.
Cairns was not going to let up that easily with Ubaka showing what Cedar could do he could match with a triple of his own to keep them 50-44 in front.
Daniel Dillon stamped his authority with a pair of threes from either side of the hoop to put the visitors once again in control after momentarily dropping off.
Ellis, who was flirting with danger with three fouls to his name mid-way through the second, didn't let up in the paint to tap in another two.
Brad Williamson came off the bench to hit a three and set-up a tight final stanza with the homeside trailing 59-67.
The Crocodiles set out to give everything in their tank with Crawford once again doing the damage with two triples to bring them within seven.
The Taipans were now the ones fighting to hold on as they struggled to hold on to the ball in the face of intense defence which slashed the margin to five.
Crawford was shaping as the miracle man with a third three of the quarter to bring the homeside within four with six minutes left in the encounter.
Rychart took control of the paint to steady the ship for the visitors and extend the lead back to a more comfortable 80-70.
Ubaka ensured there would be no miracle fight-back from the homeside with a long-ranger extending the margin to 15 before seeing out the game.
Cairns Taipans 93 (Dillon 21, Rychart 16, Ubaka 15)
Townsville Crocodiles 83 (Crawford 29, Cedar 16, Schenscher 13)
@Townsville Entertainment Centre. Crowd 5151
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