CAIRNS, Australia -- Despite an outstanding team effort and another big-time performance by Mark Bigelow, the BYU men's basketball team came out on the losing end of a hard-fought 108-105 battle Monday against the Cairns Taipans of Australia's elite National Basketball League.
A thrilling finish, the Taipans won on a three-pointer at the final buzzer after BYU guard Terry Nashif tied the game with a clutch trey of his own just five seconds earlier.
"Tonight was the best game of the trip," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "This was the best team we have faced and we competed hard and played very well. Our young men are certainly getting valuable experience. We're coming together as a team. Hopefully that will pay off in November and December."
If one thing has become apparent during BYU's first five games in Australia, it is Bigelow's capable leadership. The 6-foot-7 senior forward has led BYU in scoring in all five games, including a 28-point effort Monday against Cairns. He shot 57 percent from the floor, including 4-of-5 three-pointers, and added four rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes. He is averaging 21.6 points on the tour.
Senior center Rafael Araujo had his best game of the trip, missing only once from the floor in nine attempts on his way to 23 points. He added 10 rebounds, including three offensive boards, in his 25 minutes before fouling out.
The Cougars shot a sizzling 63 percent from the floor for the game, including 8-of-13 threes, while holding Cairns to 42-percent shooting and a 36-percent clip from long range. The Taipans made up for BYU's strong shooting by cleaning the offensive glass, collecting 24 of their misses to outscore BYU 31-7 in second-chance points. Cairns' Anthony Stewart countered Bigelow's effort with his own long-range display, hitting six threes while scoring a game-high 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Three other Taipans reached double figures.
The Cougars got another strong effort from redshirt freshman Garner Meads. The former McDonald's High School All-American scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting while adding four rebounds and one steal. Other stellar performances came from senior forward Jake Shoff, who went 7-for-9 from the floor and hit is only free throw to tally 15 points, and senior point guard Kevin Woodberry, who made 5-of-7 shots, including 3-of-4 treys, for 13 points. Shoff added six rebounds while Woodberry added a team-leading two steals along with senior Ricky Bower, who scored four points.
Cleveland started Bigelow, Woodberry, Araujo, junior forward Jared Jensen and senior guard Luiz Lemes. Jensen added four points and two rebounds in 23 minutes while Lemes had two points and four assists before fouling out after playing 26 minutes. In addition to hitting the game-tying trey, Nashif came off the bench to lead BYU in assists for the second straight game with six. Senior center Dan Howard, junior guard Marc Roberts and freshman point guard Austin Ainge all saw action but did not score.
BYU, now 3-2 on its tour, will complete its schedule Tuesday when it plays for the sixth time in the past seven days. The Cougars return to Provo on Thursday.