Cairns Taipans recruit Admiral Schofield admitted earlier in the week that while he was aware of Bryce Cotton, he wasn’t super familiar with the NBL legend’s body of work.
Well if he wasn’t 24 hours ago, ‘Scho’ certainly will be now, as a vintage Cotton performance lifted the Adelaide 36ers to a comprehensive victory in Cairns.
The visitors led wire-to-wire, eventually coming away with a 110-79 victory.
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Cotton was as devastating as ever, though his dominance was aided by scoring contributions from Flynn Cameron and Isaac Humphries.
Those efforts allowed Cotton to pick his spots.
He had several stretches where he deferred to his teammates, only to explode for several quick baskets to keep the Taipans at bay.
Cotton finished with 28 points on the night, having spent the majority of the fourth quarter resting on the bench.
It’s the sort of performance that Cairns fans have come to expect whenever Cotton is in town, as he dropped 44 on his last visit when he was a Wildcat.
It’s far from panic stations for Adam Forde’s side with their record sitting at 2-2.
However, this was their second blowout loss of the season, with questions surely starting to be asked about if and when the Snakes will be able to match it with the best in the NBL.
CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 02: Bryce Cotton of the 36ers drives up court during the round three NBL match between Cairns Taipans and Adelaide 36ers at Cairns Convention Centre, on October 02, 2025, in Cairns, Australia. (Photo by Emily Barker/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Foul trouble hurts Snakes
In a rough first half for the Taipans, they committed 11 personal fouls, with Marcus Lee in particular drawing plenty of unwanted attention from the officials.
Untimely indiscretions in both the first and second quarter forced Adam Forde to take the NBL Champion out of the game on both occasions.
Tensions rose in both terms, with point guard Andrew Andrews picking up a technical in the first, while a chorus of boos from the Cairns crowd rang out after Kyrin Galloway’s second foul.
Lee did manage to clean up his defensive work in the second half, after he fouled out in the Taipans’ one-point win over Brisbane last Friday.
It’s sure to be an area theTaipans want to address, especially as Lee proved dangerous on offence, particularly in the pick and roll with Andrew Andrews.
McVeigh’s quiet night
Jack McVeigh has lived up to the hype for the most part since signing in FNQ, but this game was a rare misstep.
The Snakes superstar was mostly held in check throughout, with Forde also reducing his workload in what was their third game in six days.
The coach had flagged earlier in the week that load management would be a factor in their preparations, and it looks like McVeigh at least will welcome the eight-day break.
Match details
Adelaide 36ers 110 (Cotton 28, Cameron 20, Vasiljevic 19)
Cairns Taipans 79 (Schofield 19, Lee 17, Andrews 10)
Venue: Cairns Convention Centre