Former Cairns import Travis Trice has come back to bite the Taipans, stepping up to nail back-to-back three-pointers and seal Brisbane's gutsy 82-74 NBL home win.
The Bullets bounced back from last week's record 31-point home loss to Illawarra to notch just their third win of the season after a fast-finishing Trice helped deny the Taipans a stirring comeback.
Brisbane (3-4 record) delivered on their promise to tighten their defence following last week's humiliating Hawks rout - their biggest home loss to Illawarra - by limiting the Taipans to the NBL's lowest half-time total of the season, just 24.
But after a miserly start, the final term became a shootout and Trice's aim was true.
The reigning Cairns MVP showed no mercy to his former club, shooting consecutive threes to initially help Brisbane regain the lead 75-74 then gift them a three-point buffer with less than 30 seconds left.
The import guard finished with a game high 17 points and a career-equal best eight assists despite having just two points to his name at the final break.
Cairns (4-6) missed a chance to jump into the top five with a win that would have entered NBL folklore.
The Taipans had hoped to become just the second team in the NBL's 40-season history to have come back from posting 24 or less half-time points and go on to win the game.
Besides Trice, Bullets centre Tom Jervis was huge with 14 points and seven rebounds.
For Cairns, captain Cameron Gliddon had 15 points and Jarrad Weeks 14.
Brisbane went into the round seven game as the league's worst-scoring team.
However, they reeled in a six-point deficit to lead 18-15 at the first break.
The Taipans' effort was the lowest opening quarter total of the NBL season, eclipsing Brisbane's 31 points in round three.
"That was the defensive pressure we were looking for," Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis said.
Brisbane's blanket defence limited Cairns to just three of 16 field goal attempts in the second term as they cruised to a 33-24 halftime lead.
The Taipans finally found their range, outscoring the hosts 25-16 in the third term to lock up the scores 49-49 at the final break.
Back to back threes from guard Mitch McCarron gave Cairns a 74-73 lead with 90 seconds left before Trice lit up.
Cairns were without import Michael Carrera who went down with a knee injury in the first term in Thursday night's 92-69 win over Melbourne United.
