43 in a quarter, 71 in a half: the night we rewrote our 40-minute record book

A 43-point second quarter and a 71-point first half, both our biggest of the modern 40-minute era, plus 66 points from the bench deliver five Ignite Cup points in Melbourne.

We handed the Phoenix the first eight points of the night and then played some of the best offensive basketball this club has produced in the 40-minute era. A 120-110 win at State Basketball Centre in our first Ignite Cup game of NBL27 moves the Hawks to 5-9, makes it three wins from four on this road swing, and squares the season series after the 113-96 loss the Phoenix handed us in Round 3.

The numbers that will last are 43 and 71. The first is what we scored in the second quarter, the most we have put up in a quarter since the league went back to 40-minute games in 2009. The second is our half-time total, the most we have scored in a half in that same era.

Eight down, then lift-off

A new-look starting five was down 0-8 inside two minutes. Wani Swaka Lo Buluk stopped the bleeding with a layup, Tyler Harvey finished with his non-preferred right hand, and Milton Doyle hit all three of his first-quarter threes.

Sam Froling came off the bench, got the ball down low and went to work. His reverse layup put us in front 18-17 and we never trailed again. A Johny Narkle and-one sat in the middle of a 9-0 run, Froling had six points on three from three shooting, and a Doyle step-back made it 28-20 before the Phoenix hit a late three for 28-23.

Forty-three

Then came the quarter. We outscored the Phoenix 43-31, shot 15 of 18 from the field and went 9 of 9 at the line.

Kelan Martin had 15 of them. Makur Maker had 10, all of his first-half points. Davo Hickey added seven, and Daniel Grida chipped in back-to-back buckets going straight at Nathan Sobey. When Hickey hesitated, drew the foul on Angus Glover and made the tough shot anyway, it capped an 11-2 run and the scoreboard read 64-48. It was 71-54 at the half, the most points we have scored in a half in the modern 40-minute era.

We had reached 40 in a quarter only three times since 2009: 41 against the Brisbane Bullets on 26 January 2026, and 40 against Cairns on 6 November 2015 and the Adelaide 36ers on 25 November 2018. Before the 48-minute change we did hit 45, on 27 July 1991 against the Melbourne Tigers at the Snakepit, in the 186-158 loss that remains the highest-scoring game in NBL history.

Martin could not miss

Martin finished with 27 points off the bench on 10 of 16 shooting and 5 of 7 from three. He equalled his NBL career highs for field goals and three-pointers made, and fell one point short of his career-high 28.

His last three came when Maker was doubled on the wing, the ball moved twice for the hockey assists, and Martin was waiting in rhythm to make it 114-94.

Six straight for Doyle

Doyle made his first six threes of the night and finished with 22 points on 8 of 11 shooting, 6 of 7 from deep. He played all ten minutes of the first quarter and set the tone for everything that followed.

Hickey ran the show

Hickey’s line was 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in 25 minutes without a turnover, and we were plus 18 with him on the floor. He was named the Foot Locker Player of the Game on the ESPN broadcast.

Maker!

Maker had Jordan Hunter on an island early. He took him off the dribble for a tough and-one, got back to the line again and again, and finished 8 of 8 on free throws, a new NBL career high for free throws made. His five assists were a career high too, alongside 16 points and six rebounds.

Froling was highly impactful in limited minutes, with nine points and five rebounds in under 16. Todd Blanchfield hit back-to-back threes in the third to push the lead to 86-68. All up, a bench that came into the night leading the league in scoring gave us 66 points.

Where it tightened up

It was not perfect. The ball movement Doyle had pointed to at half-time as the key went missing early in the third, and unforced turnovers were a slight blight on the night, with five in that quarter alone. The Phoenix won the third 27-24, helped by nine late points from Glover.

We led by 20 four separate times, the last at 114-94 with 3:52 to play. A lazy pass that became a Sobey dunk had already forced a Justin Tatum timeout at 106-90, and the Phoenix closed on a 16-6 run to take the fourth as well.

The final margin did not really reflect the dominance.

Five from seven

The Ignite Cup rewards more than the result. Three points go to the winner, with another on offer for every quarter won, which means we bank five of a possible seven: three for the win and one each for the first and second quarters. The Phoenix take two for the third and fourth.

For the Phoenix

D’Shawn Schwartz led the Phoenix with 22 points and eight rebounds, Sobey had 19 points and nine assists, and Dash Daniels added 17. Glover, an Illawarra junior and former Hawk, finished with 15. The Phoenix were playing their first game since releasing import guard Skylar Mays earlier in the week.

Greater Bank Game MVP

Who was your Greater Bank Game MVP? Kelan Martin had 27 points and five threes. Milton Doyle had 22 and made his first six from deep. Davo Hickey went for 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Makur Maker had 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and a perfect night at the line. Over to you, Hawkheads.

One more stop, then home

The road swing finishes in Perth on Saturday, and then we are finally back in front of Hawkheads.

Next up: Hawks v Perth Wildcats, Saturday 14th November.

Watch live on ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now from 9:30pm AEDT.

Indigenous game, Nov 19th.

That’s 120 points of what this group can do, and the next time you can see it in person is Thursday 19 November at 7:30pm, when the Adelaide 36ers come to WIN Entertainment Centre for Indigenous Round.

Grab your seats now.

• Hollywood seats
• General admission from $99 for a Family, or just $30 each.
• Pre-game function
• See the jersey

HUNGRY JACK’S NBL27 (Boxscore)

Illawarra Hawks 120 (Martin 27, Doyle 22, Maker 16, Hickey 15)
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 110 (Schwartz 22, Sobey 19, Daniels 17)

Head to our social channels for all the highlights and photos from Melbourne.

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