Hawks defeat Kings to secure Adrian Hurley Cup

The Illawarra Hawks have secured home-court advantage for the NBL22 semi-finals after defeating the Sydney Kings 87-84 on Sunday.

The round 21 win also sees the Hawks take out the Adrian Hurley Cup series for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

Leading the way in the win at Qudos Bank Arena was Justinian Jessup, who tallied 24 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Golde State Warriors draft pick was supported by teammates Antonius Cleveland (18 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists), Tyler Harvey (15 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals) and Duop Reath (18 points, six boards and two blocks).

Those four standouts helped the Hawks also dominate the steals (10-2), blocks (6-2) and points off turnovers (16-7) categories.

In the loss, Xavier Cooks did all he could for the Kings, notching 20 points, 14 rebounds and three dimes.

Also playing well for the Kings, who were without Jaylen Adams on Sunday, were Jarell Martin (13 points), Dejan Vasiljevic (11), Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (11) and Ian Clark (10)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">15 first-quarter points for Justinian J3??ssup ?<br><br>?: <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foxtel</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TogetherWeFly?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TogetherWeFly</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/PWY7WSdfYn">pic.twitter.com/PWY7WSdfYn</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1518099665836597248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


In front of the Kings’ biggest crowd of the season (12,632), the Hawks started strongly behind seven quick points Jessup, to race out to a 12-6 lead after four minutes.

The NBL Next Star’s first triple, Harvey’s second for the game and Sam Froling’s lay-up, following a creative drive by Cleveland, capped an 8-0 Illawarra - which saw the visitors move out to a 17-6 lead and force Chase Buford into a time-out.

A quick 6-0, sparked by Thomas Vodanovich, helped the hosts close the gap to seven with just under four to play.

Behind Jessup’s 15 first-quarter points and 68.4 per cent shooting from the whole team, Goorjian’s Hawks led 32-18 after one.

More downtown damage from Harvey and a dunk by Cleveland stretched that lead to 18 midway period number two.

Sixth Man of the Year candidate Rathan-Mayes kept the score ticking along for the Hawks, with back-to-back tough baskets before three late shots from the stripe by Cleveland, ensured the visitors led 56-43 at the break - marking Illawarra’s highest-scoring first half of NBL22.

Illawarra product Cooks did his best to keep his Kings in the contest in the third, leading them on a 7-4, to cut the deficit to 10 points.

That lead dwindled to just two after former Hawk Angus Glover nailed a triple, forcing Goorjian to call a time-out with 2.23 to play in the third.

Clutch threes from Cleveland and Jessup stemmed the flow for the Hawks before late free-throws by Cooks made it 73-71 at the final change.

Two more shots from the charity stripe by Cooks levelled the scores early in the fourth before Wani Swaka Lo Buluk’s driving lay-up, while getting fouled, gave the Kings their first lead since the opening term (78-76).

But a fading out of bounds three by Harvey and acrobatic lay-up by Cleveland restored the Hawks’ lead, 83-78.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> semi-final schedule is locked in ?<br><br>Members&#39; pre-sale starts Tuesday - members please check your emails for more information. <br><br>General public tickets go on sale from 4pm Wednesday. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TogetherWeFly?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TogetherWeFly</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://t.co/YlHuQWx9Qo">pic.twitter.com/YlHuQWx9Qo</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1518138739914027008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Down the stretch, timely blocks by Reath kept the Kings at bay, as did a last-ditch steal by Rathan-Mayes during a chaotic final phase.

Harvey nailed one of his two free-throws, with 3.3 left, to put Illawarra up 86-84.

In the Kings’ resulting play, Ian Clark had a made three waved away, as he stepped out of bounds.

Jessup’s late free-throw and a missed hail-mary from Dejan Vasiljevic sealed the 87-84 win for Illawarra.

This result sees the Hawks finish in second with a 19-9 record - which sees them host game one of their semi-final series against Sydney on Friday, April 29 from 7.30pm AEST at WIN Entertainment Centre.

Game two will be played on Sunday, May 1 from 3pm at Qudos Bank Arena, with game three (if necessary) to be played on Tuesday, May 3 at the WIN Entertainment Centre from 7.30pm.