The Taipans kept within reach of the NBL top four and ended a three-game losing skid with victory against Wollongong in Cairns.

Having lost two games this week away to Brisbane and Hunter, the Taipans returned to the Cairns Convention Centre in style, smothering the visiting Hawks 120-104.

Chris Burgess top scored for Cairns with 24 points while Gary Boodnikoff had 22 and Anthony Stewart 19 while Adam Ballinger was the best for the Hawks with 29.

A 43-point first quarter had the Taipans flying, their free-flowing offence paying dividends.

Ten points from Cattalini and eight each to Burgess and Stewart had Cairns well set, leading 43-28 going into the second quarter.

Cairns shot the ball at an unbelievable 73 percent from the floor in the first term which went a long way to setting up the lead.

Both teams fell into foul trouble early in the second period, Burgess (Cairns)and Saville (Wollongong) having to sit out a large part of the quarter, Burgess after picking up three personal fouls and Saville four.

The second quarter turned into a war of attrition, with fouls dominating.

The Taipans should have taken a bigger lead into the main break, but poor foul shooting meant they only held a 64-50 advantage.

Cairns extended its lead to 20 points, the visitors strung together an 11-2 run to put themselves back in with a chance, trailing 72-61 with just over six minutes left in the third period.

A tip-in from Burgess on the three-quarter time buzzer gave Cairns an 87-72 lead.

A rampant Taipans outfit shot Wollongong out of the game within three minutes of the last quarter starting, a 98-76 lead reached through some outstanding team basketball.

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