The Cairns Taipans have survived a late Brisbane Bullets fightback to triumph 89-86 in a fiery NBL clash from which ex-NBA centre Aron Baynes and Lat Mayen were ejected.
The Bullets trailed by 16 points in the last term in Brisbane on Saturday night but 16 fourth-quarter points from Nathan Sobey helped them come within one in the final minute.
A famous Brisbane win was not to be, though, with Isaac White missing a long-range shot that could have tied the scores in the last four seconds.
An ugly incident involving Bullets centre Baynes and Taipans forward Mayen overshadowed the evening.
A furious Baynes needed to be held back as he confronted the referee to protest contact from Mayen, with whom he had become entangled late in the second quarter.
Baynes and Mayen received technical fouls, with the Bullets bench being handed a tech of its own after Baynes carried on yelling at the referees once substituted out.
On closer inspection of video footage at halftime, match officials concluded Mayen had elbowed Baynes in the face during the contact, sparking the Brisbane player's irate reaction.
Broadcast vision showed Mayen and Baynes confronting one another again as they left for the halftime break. Both were ejected before play began in the third quarter.
"It's a heated, physical game," Bullets coach Justin Schueller said.
"Obviously Baynesy felt there was a little bit of excessive contact but I haven't really looked back and seen it yet so can't really go into the 'why'.
"We just want to make sure he's OK and in a good headspace."
Taipans coach Adam Forde praised Mayen for taking the ejection in his stride.
"It was what it was and Lat took it very well. Credit to Lat, to take the punishment and move on from it," he said.
"It was always going to be a physical game, Brisbane had a great couple of wins to start the season and they wanted to protect the home court."
The stoush came after Cairns dominated the first half, capitalising on another slow start from Brisbane.
But just when the Bullets appeared shot, Sobey (31 points, two rebounds) and Chris Smith (12 points, three rebounds) clicked into gear.
Sobey had one last chance to give the Bullets their first lead but could not break through tight Taipans defence for the game-winner in the dying seconds.
The Bullets were left to rue giving up 13-2 runs in the first and third quarters that left them with too much work to do.
"Frustration there but the thing you love is the fightback," Schueller said.
"We knew we weren't playing at a decent level tonight.
"But to keep putting ourselves in a position to maybe steal it, there's something in that we can move forward with."
For the Taipans, Swedish teenager Bobi Klintman (19 points, six rebounds) was again instrumental, while import Patrick Miller had 21 points with five assists.
