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Wildcats out as Taipans sweep semifinal series

Wildcats forward Jermaine Beal tries to score under pressure from Cairns defenders tonight. Picture: Ben Crabtree/The West Australian

The Perth Wildcats' NBL title defence is over after the Cairns Taipans took out their semifinal series 2-0 with a 12-point win at Perth Arena tonight.

The Wildcats trailed the Taipans by eight points at three-quarter time before a late charge, led by imports DeAndre Daniels and Jermaine Beal, evened the scores with five minutes left.

The patch of form was even more remarkable given the home side had lost Jesse Wagstaff (ankle) and Tom Jervis (fouled out) in the opening minutes of the term, leaving them with just six of their 10 contracted players available.

However, after finishing the season on top of the ladder, the Taipans again showed their class when it counted, answering the challenge with a 10-0 run to ice the 80-68 win and move through to the grand final series against the New Zealand Breakers.

Matt Knight was the most dominant individual on the court for most of the game, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Beal led the scoring with 21 points.

The Taipans had plenty of contributors, with Scottie Wilbekin hitting 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and former Wildcat Stephen Weigh adding 16 points.

Both sides came into the game flat after a punishing game one in Cairns on Friday night when the Taipans won by seven points, 71-64.

But typical of the Wildcats' season, they allowed the visitors to skip away to a lead because of their own inability to finish on the offensive end.

The Taipans led by 10 points at the half-time break, a margin which could have been considerably smaller if not for the Wildcats hitting only 26 per cent of their shots from the field.

The margin remained about the same throughout the second half before Beal's late surge.