Game Report: Hawks v St Marys College | NBL27 Preseason

Eight minutes into the NBL27 pre-season, the Illawarra Hawks had two points.

St Marys College had twelve, a size advantage they were using without mercy, and the sort of early control that suggested a long night in Wollongong. Then Darius Days and Kyle Adnam checked in, drilled back to back triples, and the Hawks spent the next thirty-two minutes proving the first eight meant nothing.

Justin Tatum was direct about it afterwards, saying he was pleased with the resolve his group showed in wiping out that early ten-point deficit and controlling most of what followed. He was right to be. The Gaels are no novelty act. This is a program with fifteen NCAA Tournament appearances to its name, including every tournament from 2022 through to 2026. They came to Wollongong with size, structure and a plan, and for eight minutes it worked exactly as they drew it up. For the remaining thirty-two it did not work at all.

Final score, 95-78. [Boxscore]

Back where it started

Long before the doors opened, Days stood alone on the baseline and let himself remember.

Almost two years ago to the day, he was a Shanghai Sharks big man with a point to prove. He proved it, and the Hawks handed him a contract and a key role on a championship team. After a year away, he was back in the Snakepit, back in Hawks colours, and by his own admission very happy to be 'home'.

Nobody in the building could have scripted it better than the moment he checked in with the Hawks trailing by ten and immediately buried a three.

Grinding the lead back

Daniel Grida deserves a mention in that early stretch. His hustle earned Illawarra a couple of second chances that did not show up in the box score but absolutely showed up on the scoreboard, and he later buried a corner three off an Adnam feed to push the lead to 55-45.

Illawarra led 18-16 at quarter time. William Hickey took the ball the length of the floor with four seconds left in the half to send the Hawks to the rooms up 39-35.

Then Harvey got hot

For twenty minutes, Tyler Harvey could not buy a bucket. The co-captain opened 0-for-6 from the floor and 0-for-2 at the line, and by the time he finally got one to drop, a three inside the final minute of the half, he was 1-from-8.

The second half was a different man entirely. Harvey shot 6-of-10 after the interval, including 5-of-7 from deep, for 20 second-half points. He opened the fourth quarter with a tough finish at the rim to make it 71-57, then added the dagger from range as part of the run that took Illawarra out to 80-59.

He finished with 23 points on 6-of-13 shooting from three, along with six rebounds. Shooters shoot. This one is why.

Davo goes to work

Nineteen, eleven and seven.

Will Hickey finished three assists shy of a triple-double and did not turn the ball over once doing it.

Fresh off a stint with the Los Angeles Lakers at NBA Summer League last month, 'Davo' was the standout. He shot 7-of-10, added two steals, and posted an efficiency rating of 35, fourteen clear of every other player on the floor. Eight of those rebounds and three of the assists came in the first half alone, when the Hawks needed someone to steady the thing.

Adnam re-announces himself

A decade after being Development Player under Coach Gordie McLeod, and a brief stint in 2024, Kyle Adnam arrived back in Wollongong as the Nominated Replacement Player. He played like a man who intends to be a lot more than that.

Sixteen points on 4-of-8 from three, five assists, and a plus-24 that led all players on the night. Two quick triples in the third quarter blew the game open, and his passing gave Illawarra a genuine second organising presence alongside Hickey. If this is what the Hawks are getting off the bench, the depth conversation for NBL27 just got interesting.

Sam Froling looked mobile and sharp for 12 points on 57 per cent shooting with three assists. Todd Blanchfield added 11 on 4-of-7. Johny Narkle turned in a tidy 18 minutes and hit back to back buckets that stretched the margin to 67-55 with ninety seconds left in the third, a lead the Gaels never seriously threatened again.

Five Hawks in double figures.

Illawarra made 13 threes at 36 per cent. St Marys made four at 16 per cent from 25 attempts.

All of it came without new imports Milton Doyle and Kelan Martin, who arrive in Wollongong tomorrow.

The Gaels had their moments

Mantas Juzenas was excellent. The Lithuanian guard finished with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 4-of-7 from deep, along with five rebounds, and he was the one player St Marys could rely on to manufacture offence when the Hawks tightened the screws.

There was a local flavour too. Josh Dent, an Illawarra junior and the brother of former Hawk Lachlan Dent, captained the Gaels back in his old stomping ground and contributed 13 points with six assists. Salih Altuntas (11 points, eight rebounds) and Vangelis Zougris (10 points, six rebounds, five assists) rounded out the visitors' double-figure scorers.

The Snakepit did its job

There is a reason this building keeps its nickname. The Hawkheads who packed in on a Thursday night in August, for a preseason game in the middle of winter, gave this squad the exact welcome it needed on the way back from a difficult NBL26. The noise when Days and Adnam went back to back from deep was the noise of a fanbase that has decided it is done waiting.

What's next

Next up is a members only fixture right back here at the Snakepit, with the Sydney Kings coming to Wollongong on Tuesday 25 August. This one is for the Hawkheads who have already signed on, so if you want to be in the building for it, now is the time to sort your NBL27 membership.

‍

Then the Hawks head to Bendigo for the NBL Preseason Blitz, opening against the Adelaide 36ers at Red Energy Arena on Thursday 3 September at 8:00pm, before facing Melbourne United at the same venue on Sunday 6 September at 2:30pm.

The NBL27 season proper begins on Sunday 20 September against the New Zealand Breakers at Spark Arena. The first chance to see this group at the WIN Entertainment Centre comes on Friday 2 October against Adelaide, with tickets available through Ticketmaster.

Highlights, photos and reaction from tonight are up across all Hawks social channels. Go get around them.

NBL SEASON 2026/27 PRESEASON (Boxscore)
ILLAWARRA HAWKS 95 (Harvey 23, Hickey 19, Adnam 16)
ST MARYS COLLEGE 78 (Juzenas 24, Dent 13, Altuntas 11)

‍