Rowan Anderson

Journalist

“I think we have the toughest guys on the offensive end, and we are the team to beat.”

The Cairns Marlins got the job done in a competitive contest last week and now head to the Sunshine Coast tonight to take on Rip City.

Fans at Early Settler Stadium got to witness the quarter final that saw an incredible overtime contest it proved against the fifth placed Ipswich Force.

Newsport spoke with hoops stud and Cairns Marlin star Ben Ayre about the victory and what lies ahead.

“It was a really good win for us,” Ayre said.

“It was a real back and forth game for us and I read there was 27 lead changes, so it was a real competitive effort going into overtime also.

“They were talking a lot of trash earlier on and we are a team that doesn’t like too much of that talk on the floor and let our play speak for itself.”

Ipswich was ahead for most of the final minute after a massive three from Isaac White following an offensive rebound but Cairns forced the game to overtime after Jason Ralph missed two free-throws for the Force and then Lat Mayen rose up to knock down the remarkable three-pointer.

The guy has incredible handles and can take the shot for his Cairns teammates when needed pulling off the clutch plays.

“Lat’s performance was huge for us.

“He really led us by his actions especially in the fourth quarter. He really just scored the ball the whole game but towards the fourth he really carried us and led us.

“He brings a lot to this squad – he is a high character guy and great teammate. His persona on the court is really out there and that matches with mine so helps the team mesh well.

“We like to celebrate, be exciting and lose ourselves in the game so its really good to be out there playing with him.”

The Marlins then did enough in overtime to end up winning 94-91 with Mayen finished with 34 points and Kody Stattmann 21 points and 11 rebounds. Henry Pwono had 31 points for Ipswich, Isaac White 23 and Cameron Goldfinch 17.

This week’s challenge for the Marlins will be another tough one against a team that possesses the reigning league MVP in Kouat Noi, who dropped a 30-piece in quarter finals to send the Salties back home to Darwin.

“We are really excited for this game!

“We have played them once already this season, but Lat didn’t play so we are excited for the challenge.

“At the end of the day its going to be on them to stop us – I think we are a really hard team to guard, and we have to put it on them to meet that challenge.

“I think we are the best offensive team in the league and defensively we are really putting that together – which is really scary but puts us in a position to continue winning.

This will be a huge game between the two hottest teams in the NBL1 North and they face off tonight at University of Sunshine Coast Sports Stadium with tip off at 7:30PM.