The Cairns Taipans have consigned the New Zealand Breakers to their fourth successive defeat and probably the NBL wooden spoon after Ousmane Dieng's three-point miss on the buzzer secured a hard-fought 93-90 win at the Cairns Convention Centre.
The seesawing affair on Sunday reached a dramatic climax when Kouat Noi hit only the first of two foul shots with four seconds remaining to put the Taipans ahead by three points.
Dieng, the Breakers' exciting 18-year-old Frenchman, grabbed the rebound, dribbled forward quickly and launched a long prayer which caught a fair piece of the iron before rimming out.
Noi (19 points, six rebounds) was quiet early before piggybacking Cairns into pole position in the third term.
Burly centre Nate Jawai (16 points, five boards) was unstoppable in the paint early, while import point guard Scott Machado (15 points, five rebounds, seven assists) wound back the clock with a brilliant fourth stanza after some ragged shooting in the first three.
"I didn't feel great throughout the entire game," Taipans coach Adam Forde admitted.
"It was never a game that got out - seven points was the biggest margin.
"Everytime we felt we felt we got a bit of momentum, they'd hit a three or an uncontested layup and that was on us.
"There was always that uneasiness.
"But it was good to get the win because wins have been few and far between."
Yanni Wetzell (21 points, eight boards) took some early lumps from Jawai before dragging the Breakers back into the contest, aided by NBA prospects Dieng (career-high 20 points) and Hugo Besson (16).
Veteran Jawai ragdolled NZ with eight straight points in the last three minutes of the opening period to put Cairns ahead 24-17 at quarter time.
Dieng and Wetzell spearheaded a second-quarter revival, driving the Breakers to a 45-43 halftime advantage before the momentum swung again when Noi caught fire in the third term, which ended with the Taipans in front 71-68, despite NZ import Peyton Siva's triple on the three-quarter time buzzer.
From out of nowhere, Machado outscored the Breakers 8-0 across two frenetic minutes in the fourth to stretch Cairns' lead to seven points.
Wetzell got more involved again in the last five minutes as NZ, despite their indifferent defence, slowly closed the gap, which Dieng ultimately couldn't quite erase altogether.
"We struggled defensively - and it's almost every game," Breakers coach Dan Shamir said.
"We couldn't keep the Taipans off the free throw line.
"We were complaining a lot but we were also fouling a lot."
