Game Recap: Hawks @ Brisbane Bullets | RD2 NBL27

Sam Froling played his 200th game for the club on Friday night and marked it the way he has built his whole career here: 10 points, 10 rebounds and a relentless presence on the offensive glass, in a game where we refused to go away.

Brisbane won 103-95 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, but the Bullets had to earn it twice. We were 18 down in the second quarter and cut it to eight by half time. We were 11 down 40 seconds into the fourth and cut it to one. Only a 10-0 run in the closing minutes put it out of reach.

Two hundred, and a Double-Double

Nine men had played 200 games for the Illawarra Hawks before Friday, a list headed by Glen Saville's 527 and Mat Campbell's 524. Froling is now the tenth, and he did not treat it as a night for ceremony.

He went 5 of 8 from the field, pulled down six of our 14 offensive rebounds and handed out three assists. In the second quarter, with Brisbane's lead out to 14, it was Froling who stopped the bleeding, going to work inside over Tyrell Harrison when we needed someone to plant a flag.

Eighteen down

The first half asked a lot of us. Brisbane opened 7-0 inside 90 seconds, led 25-18 at quarter time and pushed out to 46-28 in the second as Max Mackinnon found his range.

Then the second unit took over. Tyler Harvey came off the bench and scored 11 of his 20 points in the second quarter, all three of his first-half threes included. Johny Narkle stripped Arnas Velička clean and finished with a finger roll, then found Harvey for another three. Lamar Patterson, on debut against his former club, fed Froling inside.

We closed the half on a 14-4 run, capped by a gliding Milton Doyle scoop layup on the buzzer, and went to the rooms down 50-42 with the game alive again.

Narkle block on the first possession

Justin Tatum started Harvey and Narkle for the second half, and Narkle answered straight away with a block on Brisbane's first possession.

The third was the quarter we won, 24-23. Doyle scored 8 of his 16 in it, both of his threes included. We went small with Kelan Martin at the five and Patterson at the four, Martin backed down Velička for his first points of the night, and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk closed the quarter with his second three from two attempts.

Narkle finished the game with 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting, 9 of them after half time, and a team-best +12 whilst on court.

Harvey would not let go

Brisbane scored the first four points of the fourth and had the lead out to 11 inside 40 seconds. It would have been easy to fold. Nobody did.

Davo Hickey went to the line, Martin buried a three, and Harvey took it personally, with a three and then a tough two in quick succession to keep us in touch. He finished with 20 points, four threes, six rebounds and four assists.

After an 0 of 5 start from deep in the first quarter, we made 12 threes to Brisbane's 9.

Within one

A contested out-of-bounds call went Brisbane's way midway through the fourth. Froling was adamant the ball had come off a Bullet, the challenge request was not accepted, and Brisbane turned the possession into a three-point play at the other end.

We kept coming anyway. Narkle's floater, a Doyle bucket and a Froling finish chipped it back, and Martin's second three of the quarter made it 88-89. Moments later, a Hickey fadeaway had us within one again at 90-91. Hickey scored 5 of his 11 points in the fourth and added six rebounds and two blocks for the night.

Where it got away

It got away in two places. The first was the free-throw line, where we went 5 of 14 and Brisbane went 16 of 23. That is 11 points at the stripe in a game decided by eight. The second was the finish. From 90-91, Brisbane scored ten straight, with a Mackinnon three and a Nate Hinton three with 43 seconds left doing the damage. Turnovers at key moments, several of them leading to easy fast-break buckets, meant we could never get over the top.

It ends a seven-game winning run against Brisbane. Mackinnon was superb for the Bullets with 31 points, 12 rebounds and 6 of 8 from three, and Velička finished with 17 points and 11 assists.

Patterson had the last word, a three to make it 95-103, and finished his Hawks debut with 5 points, 4 assists and a +8.

Greater Bank Game MVP

Voting for the Greater Bank Game MVP, presented by the Hawks' Major Community Partner, is open now

The candidates, on their numbers:

• Tyler Harvey: 20 points, 4 threes, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
• Milton Doyle: 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
• Johny Narkle: 15 points on 6 of 8, 4 rebounds, +12
• Davo Hickey: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks
• Sam Froling: 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists

Have your say, Hawkheads.

The Champs are next

Two days to reset. We head to Afterpay Arena on Sunday 27 September to take on the NBL26 champion Sydney Kings at 6:00pm AEST, live on ESPN on Disney+.

Hawkheads have been allocated Section 16, so grab your seats here. Can't make it? Join the watch party at The Illawarra.

Home Opener | Friday Oct 2.

Then the Gong gets its first look at this group: Friday 2 October, 7:30pm, against the Adelaide 36ers at WIN Entertainment Centre.

Stats

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL27
Illawarra Hawks 95 (Harvey 20, Doyle 16, Narkle 15, Hickey 11, Froling 10, Martin 8, Swaka Lo Buluk 6, Patterson 5, Blanchfield 4)
Brisbane Bullets 103 (Mackinnon 31, Velička 17, Harrison 17, Hinton 16, Holt 12, Williams 4, Mayen 4, Norton 2)

Full Boxscore

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