Kouat Noi was cooking early as the Taipans took a 25-17 lead into the first break.But a Melbourne United missing two big guns in Chris Goulding and Shea Ili chipped away at the visitors’ lead as they sought to bounce back from their first loss of season and re-established their lead atop the NBL ladder.Jock Landale stepped up with yet another double-double (18 points, 11 rebounds), while Yudai Baba (17pts) and Mitch McCarron (17pts, eight assists) were similarly immense.Melbourne United dominated the glass, grabbing 50 rebounds – 20 at the offensive end – to the Taipans’ 37, as the defence rolled up the sleeves and stopped Cairns’ scoring.It is the area Melbourne United coach Dan Vickerman was most pleased with, particularly after a sub-par effort against Perth and a poor opening quarter. Melbourne United’s defence closed in so tight they restricted Cairns to 20 points or less per quarter for the rest of the game.Vickerman and guard Mitch McCarron put that down to the bench, as Sam Short, Sam McDaniel, Mason Peatling and Jack White brought the energy to spark a resurgence.The loss took the shine off a massive night for Noi, who finished with 27 points, five rebounds, two steals and a block in one of his best performances of the season.Taipans coach Mike Kelly was happy to see Noi put it together on offense, but wants to see more from the Sudanese forward at the defensive end.“I’m looking forward to him defending these great players like (Scotty) Hopson, Baba … and keep making them go through his chest to score,” Kelly said. Cameron Oliver finished with 18 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block, while Scott Machado had 14 points and nine assists.Majok Deng managed just over four minutes before he suffered a knee injury in a collision with Baba which ended his night, the loss of the important rotational piece forcing more minutes on the Taipans’ bench.The severity of the injury is unknown, and he will be evaluated in coming days, but Kelly didn’t use that as an excuse for the loss – their seventh of the season.“When someone doesn’t play for a while we need people to step up,” Kelly said. “Majok is key for us but I don’t think it was a key to us losing.”NBL Next Star Mojave King was cleared to take his place in the lineup but was not called upon by Kelly.Melbourne United took six points for the NBL Cup, winning three quarters and the game, while the Taipans pocketed [email protected] follow Matthew McInerney



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