Hawks fail to hold off 36ers

Illawarra Hawks started strong on Saturday night, but couldn't hold off the 36ers at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

The bottom-ranked Sixers were wallowing at 0-4 entering Saturday's match and trailed at every break before Flowers, projected to be a potential first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, came of age and piloted his side to victory.

Sam Froling (21 points) led the charge for the Hawks, who needed more from their American guards Tyler Harvey (12 points at 33 per cent) and Justin Robinson (three points at seven per cent).

Adelaide fell in an early ditch, trailing 20-8 as they chalked up more turnovers (six) than shot attempts (five).

Kell (13 first-quarter points), who traded buckets with Illawarra's ex-NBA forward Greg Clark (12), dug them out of the hole and his trey on the quarter-time bell reduced the Hawks' lead to 25-23.

Kell and Isaac Humphries continued their solid play in the second to trim the deficit to 40-39 at halftime.

Behind Froling, Illawarra gradually began drawing away from the 36ers in the shadows of three-quarter time, but their upper hand came quickly undone..

Flowers hit four from downtown for the quarter to single-handedly outscore the Hawks 18-10 over the first seven minutes, hammering home resurgent Adelaide's advantage.

The Hawks return home for round four on Friday 20 October against Melbourne United, tipping off at 7:30pm.