Basketball On The Internet.

THEY went into the match without Sam Waardenburg, Bobi Klintman and Jonah Antonio, then had Akoldah Gak, Taran Armstrong and Tajhere McCall foul out, Bul Kuol and Lat Mayen on four fouls in a 28-16 disparity, and Illawarra shooting 32 free throws to Cairns' 11. It may not be the Taipans' greatest victory in their NBL life, but it's surely up there.

But there's not a lot of comfort in it for the Hawks, who, just like the 36ers last week when they were gifted a whopping 46 free throws against Cairns and made 39, Illawarra's 12 aborted freebies came back to bite hard. 

To lose under those circumstances, and at home, and with Gary Clark posting a career-best 36 points and Next Star AJ Johnson putting on a show, was little short of shocking.

The Hawks had control early but surrendered it by going solo too often and taking off a number of defensive stands, certainly enough for Cairns to not only "hang around" but seize the initiative.

McCall was on his way to 28 points, six assists, seven rebounds, a steal and a block and Josh Roberts again was value-for-time-played with his 10 points gathered on a tidy 5-of-7 shooting.

And while the official stats credited Miller with the key rebound which set up the final shot, it was Roberts who tipped the rebound of Miller's slip-and-miss J for the win, clear and back to a chasing Miller, who dribbled, drew and dished to the wing near the corner.

That's where Mayen caught and released it, the siren sounding as his 3-pointer sailed through to send Cairns home 93-92 winners.

There was pandemonium among the Taipans, who must have felt as though they were competing against eight opponents for much of the night, three of them armed with whistles.

The final minutes screamed with theatre and drama, McCall keeping Cairns ahead 87-83 with 2:24 left.

A Todd Blanchfield free throw followed by a Tyler Harvey triple tied it up at 87-87, Clark securing back the lead with barely a minute remaining.

McCall tied it again, his bonus free throw completing the play for a 90-89 Taipans' lead.

Roberts blocked an attempt by Clark to win it, but Clark persisted with a second attempt he converted, McCall fouling out on the play. Clark's bonus free throw gave Illawarra a 92-90 edge, 12.3 seconds left, Cairns calling timeout.

Miller slipped taking a close-in jumper for the tie but Roberts rose up and Mayen took Miller's assist for his NBL career-first game winner.

It was an exceptional win for the Orange and a bitter blow for the surging Hawks who once again drew precious little of value from import playmaker Justin Robinson (0-of-7 from the floor).

It may be too late to show him the door but with Kyle Adnam now on the roster, William Hickey also in the wings, Harvey capable of handling the ball and Johnson - how good were his defensive board-push outs down the floor? - it might be a case of addition by subtraction.

CAIRNS TAIPANS 93 (McCall 28, Miller 16, Kuol 14, Mayen 11, Roberts 10; Gak 11 rebs; Armstrong, McCall 6 assts) d ILLAWARRA HAWKS 92 (Clark 36, Harvey 13, Swaka Lo Buluk 11, Blanchfield, Froling 10; Froling 11; Harvey 6 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 3,711