Hawks Can't Back up Against Phoenix

The South East Melbourne Phoenix drained 16 three-pointers at 59 per cent on the way to a record setting and ultra-impressive 39-point victory at home to the Illawarra Hawks on Thursday night. 

The Phoenix produced a stunning and concentrated, all-round team display to demolish the Hawks at John Cain Arena who were coming off their second win of the season Monday against Melbourne.

For half the contest, the plucky Hawks stuck with the championship contenders. But when the Phoenix hit the accelerator in the third quarter, it was all one-way traffic as they raced to a 111-72 victory that now inches them closer to a coveted top-two spot. 

Adding to the pain for the Hawks was the 20 turnovers they coughed up for the Phoenix to score 34 points from.

For the Hawks, Michael Frazier II (20 points) had the answers. 

Having recently featured in World Cup qualifiers for Team USA, Frazier’s experience was on show. It helped the Hawks to keep pace with the Phoenix, trailing by a mere point (28-27) after a foul heavy opening period.

The sharp-shooting from Tyler Harvey (13 points) and production in the paint from Sam Froling (eight points, four rebounds) saw the Hawks again level the contest (50-50). Some last-minute slip-ups cost the Hawks, as the Phoenix went into the main break with an eight-point lead (58-50). 

It got as bad as 40 points, but the Hawks settled for a 39-point margin that was the biggest win in South East Melbourne's history.

The Hawks remain on the road to play the third placed Cairns Taipans on Saturday. 

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 10

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 111 (Broekhoff 21, Creek 19, Browne 12)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 72 (Frazier 20, Harvey 13, Siva 8, Froling 8) 

BOX SCORE