You take them how you can get them, and to get the first one at home was amazing
In the humid heart of a young NBL season, Cairns and Brisbane played the kind of game that reminds us why sport endures — not because it is fair, but because it is unfinished until the final moment. Jack McVeigh, carrying the weight of a $2 million contract and a team still searching for its footing, delivered when the stakes were highest, only for the referees to hand Brisbane a lifeline that the Bullets ultimately could not convert. The Taipans held on 83-82, earning not just a win, but a first home victory that answered the doubts left by a brutal opening loss.
- A controversial jump ball call with ten seconds remaining handed Brisbane possession and threatened to unravel everything Cairns had built across forty minutes of basketball.
- Javon Freeman-Liberty drove for what should have been the equaliser, only to be rejected at the rim — and then rolled his ankle on the landing, compounding Brisbane's misery.
- McVeigh's near triple-double of 19 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists was the spine of the Taipans' performance, his go-ahead three-pointer the moment that separated the two sides.
- Brisbane's three-point shooting — two made from nineteen attempts — was a quiet catastrophe that no late drama could fully disguise.
- The win lands as something more than two points in the standings: it is Cairns' answer to the 37-point humiliation that opened their season, proof that this team can survive when everything goes sideways.
Jack McVeigh hit a three-pointer to put Cairns ahead with under two minutes remaining, and the Convention Centre crowd erupted. Then the referees intervened. A jump ball was awarded to Brisbane after what appeared to be a shoulder charge by Jaylen Adams into McVeigh's head — a decision that handed the Bullets possession with ten seconds left and the game suddenly in the balance.
But Freeman-Liberty's drive to the basket was rejected at the rim, and he rolled his ankle in the process. His subsequent floater rimmed out. Cairns survived, 83-82, in a finish that will be argued about long after the season is over.
McVeigh, signed to a deal believed worth $2 million, finished one assist short of a triple-double with 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. The win mattered beyond the scoreboard — Cairns had opened the season with a catastrophic 37-point loss, and questions about their competitiveness were still fresh. Friday night offered at least a partial answer.
Admiral Schofield also contributed 19 points, while newcomer Andrew Andrews — who had arrived from Portland just days earlier — missed his first eight shots before finding his range in the second half with two three-pointers that helped Cairns build a 12-point lead. Marcus Lee added 12 before fouling out in the fourth.
Brisbane's Tyrell Harrison led all scorers with 22 points, and Freeman-Liberty and Casey Prather combined for 39, but the Bullets' night was defined by their shooting from distance — two from nineteen attempts, a figure that made their late push feel like borrowed time. Sam McDaniel's early ankle injury further disrupted their rotation. The game swung in every direction before McVeigh's steady hand, and a little fortune, brought Cairns home.
Jack McVeigh had just hit a three-pointer to give Cairns the lead with less than two minutes remaining. The crowd at the Convention Centre was roaring. Then the referees made a call that would define the night.
A jump ball was awarded to Brisbane despite Jaylen Adams appearing to shoulder charge McVeigh in the head while the Cairns star was sitting on the ball. The decision handed the Bullets possession with ten seconds left and a chance to steal the game. It was the kind of call that would be debated in the car park for weeks.
But the basketball gods had other plans. Javon Freeman-Liberty drove to what looked like an open layup, only to be rejected at the rim. In the process, he rolled his ankle. On the next possession, with the buzzer bearing down, his floater rimmed out and fell away. Cairns held on, 83-82.
McVeigh, the million-dollar recruit signed to a two-year deal believed worth $2 million, had been the architect of the Taipans' survival. He finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists—just one assist short of a triple-double. More importantly, he had the ball in his hands when it mattered. "Man, in this league, you take them how you can get them, and to get the first one at home was amazing," he said afterward.
The win carried real weight for Cairns. They had opened their season with a catastrophic 114-77 loss to South East Melbourne, a 37-point drubbing that left questions about whether this team could compete. Friday night answered at least one of them: they could win at home, even when everything went sideways.
Admiral Schofield matched McVeigh's 19 points, while Marcus Lee added 12 before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter. Andrew Andrews, a new arrival from Portland who had touched down just days earlier, struggled badly early—missing his first eight shots—but found his rhythm in the second half with a pair of three-pointers that helped Cairns build their lead to 12 points.
Brisbane's Tyrell Harrison led the Bullets with 22 points and seven rebounds. Freeman-Liberty and Casey Prather contributed 21 and 18 points respectively. But the visitors were crippled by their shooting from distance: two made three-pointers on nineteen attempts. Cairns weren't sharp from beyond the arc either at nine of thirty-six, but it was enough. Brisbane also lost Sam McDaniel early when his left ankle twisted awkwardly under a falling opponent, a blow that rippled through their rotation.
The match had swung wildly. Cairns led 21-17 after the first quarter and pushed ahead by ten in the second before Brisbane clawed back to within four by halftime. The Bullets came out firing in the third, taking the lead, but Andrews' sudden awakening and McVeigh's steady hand rebuilt the Taipans' advantage. By the time the fourth quarter arrived, Cairns had built a cushion. Brisbane fought back, as they would, but McVeigh's leadership kept them at arm's length—until that final, controversial sequence that will be replayed and argued about for as long as anyone remembers this game.
Citações Notáveis
In this league, you take them how you can get them, and to get the first one at home was amazing.— Jack McVeigh, Cairns Taipans
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
That jump ball decision—how much did it actually matter in the end?
It mattered because it gave Brisbane a real chance. Down one, ten seconds left, you're getting a possession. But Freeman-Liberty's ankle gave out on the drive, and then the floater rimmed out. So the decision was controversial, but the execution failed them.
McVeigh hit the go-ahead three with under two minutes left. Was that the moment he justified the contract?
That was one moment. But it was the whole game—nine assists, nine rebounds, nineteen points. He was running the offense, making the right plays. The three-pointer was the punctuation mark.
Andrews came off the bench and missed eight straight shots. How does a player recover from that?
He just kept shooting. Hit a three late in the third quarter and then another early in the fourth. Sometimes you have to trust that the next one is going in. For a guy who just arrived from Portland, that's a lot of faith to have.
Brisbane shot two for nineteen from three. Is that just a bad night, or a real problem?
One bad night can happen. But when you're that cold from distance and you're playing a team that's also struggling from three, you need to win the battle inside. Cairns had McVeigh and Schofield. Brisbane had Freeman-Liberty and Harrison. It came down to who made the plays when it mattered.
What does this win mean for Cairns after that opening loss?
It means they're not broken. Thirty-seven points down to South East Melbourne is a statement loss. But winning at home, in a close game, against a team that fought back hard—that's a different kind of statement. It says they can compete.