Cleveland's dunk show helps Hawks crush United

The Illawarra Hawks produced arguably their most impressive win of the season on Sunday, by defeating Melbourne United 92-77 at John Cain Arena.

The star of the victory was forward Antonius Cleveland, who tallied 20 points, seven rebounds, three steals, two assists, two blocks and numerous thunderous dunks.

Supporting the Memphis product was Tyler Harvey (19 points), Duop Reath (15 points and five rebounds), Tim Coenraad (11 points) and Justinian Jessup (10 points).

As well as these strong performances, the Hawks recorded wins in field goal percentage  (48-40), three-point percentage (45-30), free-throw percentage (72-54), steals (12-6) and blocks (9-4).

The win, in game two of the NBL22 LifeChanger Cup, also saw Jacob Jackomas become the club's 14th ever head coach and first interim coach after COVID-19 forced Brian Goorjian to miss his first game in 24 seasons.

In the 15-point defeat, Jo Lual-Acuil (18 points and nine rebounds), Chris Goulding (13 points) and Caleb Agada (12 points and 13 rebounds) all scored in double-figures for United.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DRIVE AND SLAM. <a href="https://twitter.com/DuopReath?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DuopReath</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/K0aRKbVbeD">pic.twitter.com/K0aRKbVbeD</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1507935922821959682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Reigning champions United started the stronger of the two sides, hitting their first five shots, to lead 10-6.

Sparked by bench players Coenraad and Xavier Rathan-Mayes, the visitors then went on a 16-3 - forcing Dean Vickerman into a time-out.

Jackomas’ side continues their streak, to go into the first break up 25-19. In the second, a 9-0 run, capped by a Dellavedova triple, put the hosts back up 35-34.

The Hawks responded with a 12-0 of their own to end the first half, to lead 46-35 at the break - marking their second-biggest half-time advantage all season.

Led by 10 of the team’s first 14 points by Harvey, the Hawks’ lead grew to 14 midway through the third.

United tried to fight back, thanks to Lual-Acuil dominating inside the paint but the Hawks kept them at bay, behind tough baskets from Cleveland and Reath.

Heading into the fourth quarter without Ariel Hukporti (who fouled out), United couldn’t close the gap, with a ferocious jam by Sam Froling keep the Hawks in front by 14.

Another two buckets by Sam Froling and two emphatic jams by Cleveland, put the Hawks up by 22.

The Hawks kept their foot on the throat and ran out winners 92-77 - marking United’s biggest home loss of NBL22.

Illawarra, who are now 14-8 on the season, now return home to face the Brisbane Bullets at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Thursday from 7.3-pm AEDT - with tickets available for the 80s night available via Ticketmaster.