Ebi Ere has led Melbourne to a commanding 101-77 victory over the Taipans in their NBL clash at the Cairns Convention Centre tonight.
Ere finished with a game-high 24 points for the defending champion Tigers, while fellow import Rod Grizzard added 19 and Stephen Hoare 15.
Larry Abney tallied 19 points for the home side, backed up by Martin Cattalini’s 17 and 11 to former Tiger Dave Thomas.
Melbourne started strongly, scoring the first eight points of the game and with Chris Anstey dominant at both ends of the court and Grizzard on fire up front, led 31-16 at the first break.
Cairns continued to fritter away chances in the second period, but they were able to make some inroads when Anstey went to the bench with four fouls to his name with less than five minutes on the clock.
A 16-7 run to end the quarter, with Dave Thomas and Aaron Grabau lifting the tempo, reduced the margin to 46-38 at halftime.
However Melbourne grabbed control of the match in the third period.
The Taipans were able to get the deficit down to just five points before Ere took control, shooting nine points for the quarter as the Tigers raced to a 69-53 advantage.
The match opened up in the final stanza with both sides scoring freely but the Tigers never looked in danger, racing away to a 24-point victory, its third from four starts while Cairns have slipped to 2-2.
Melbourne coach Al Westover described the win as scrappy, but he was pleased with the result.
“Once we got out to 20 (points) in the first quarter it felt pretty comfortable,” he said.
“Maybe being an early season game it was a bit scrappy but I think the intensity and all was pretty good.
“Our focus coming into the game was about our defence because we didn’t defend very well last week in New Zealand so I’m happy with the way we came out with our mindset to play defence.”
Cairns coach Alan Black said the Taipans had failed to take their chances.
“At the start of the game, we had wide open shots, you drain just a couple of those and put a bit of scoreboard pressure on and put them under the pump a little bit and then perhaps it’s a different game,” he said.
“They (Melbourne) are obviously a very talented team but I don’t believe they are a 20-point better team than we are.
“We had 11 more shots than them, we matched them in practically every category. But we don’t put the ball in the hole.”.
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