Cairns Taipans continued their unbeaten NBL run with an 85-76 win over the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland on Thursday.
The Breakers, who had won their first two games of the season, bounced back from Sunday's lacklustre display in losing 95-74 to Melbourne Tigers with a more consistent showing at North Shore Events Centre.
But they couldn't combat Cairns' twin shooting threats Scottie Wilbekin and Stephen Weigh, who between them piled on 44 points to anchor the Taipans to their fifth straight win this season.
Wilbekin topped all scorers with 24, with Weigh close behind on 20 and Cam Tradgardh chiming in with 10.
Corey Webster celebrated his 100th game for the Breakers by sinking 16 points, almost matched by Ekene Ibekwe's 15 and Rhys Carter's 14, which included four three-pointers.
The win entrenches Cairns at the top of the table with five wins from five starts, including four away from home, with the Breakers second.
The Taipans trailed 16-15 at the end of the first quarter, but started the second spell strongly in jumping out to a useful 24-16 lead early on.
The Breakers dug in, and hit the front 26-25 courtesy of a Cedric Jackson three-pointer five minutes from halftime.
They finished the spell strongly to take a 38-32 lead into the break, but the well-drilled Taipans powered back into the match in the third quarter.
They out-scored the Breakers 17-2 in the first five minutes of the spell, shooting out to a 49-40 lead and maintaining the pressure to lead 61-53 with 15 minutes remaining.
The Breakers battled back in the final quarter, closing the gap to trail by one at 61-60 with seven minutes remaining.
But a high turnover rate proved costly for the Kiwis, Cairns converting the extra possession efficiently to close out a well-worked win.
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