Hawks fall to 36ers at home

The Sixers shot out of the blocks quickly scoring the first nine points with Isaac Humphries (18 points, 10 rebounds) leading the charge as he continued his career-best form in the league's Pride Round.

Adelaide led 15-6 early and while it was a tight contest most of the rest of the way, the 36ers did hold a slender advantage for a lot of the evening and got the job done.

The dying minutes weren’t without some drama either and when Adelaide was leading by six, Hyunjung Lee was denied a layup that was deemed to be blocked clean by Kyrin Galloway.

Lee still had his career-best night in the NBL with 24 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting, but when that goaltend was missed, Adelaide closed things out at the foul line through Trey Kell (26 points, 10-of-14 free-throws) and DJ Vasiljevic (14 points, 5-of-5).

It's three straight losses for the Hawks who slip to a 9-12 record to be back to eighth position.

Tyler Harvey had 20 points for the Hawks, but his back court partner Justin Robinson struggled again for the home side, going scoreless for the night while missing all six field goal attempts.

Gary Clark's sore knee saw him play only 18 minutes for two points as well after 36 points in Thursday's loss to Cairns. Sam Froling did have 14 points and 11 rebounds through.

Todd Blanchfield, Mason Peatling, AJ Johnson and Davo Hickey all had moments off the bench, but the slow start came back to bit the home side in the end.

"It felt like there was a lid on the basket for us, but I think we passed up great shots and the shots they were taking were good," coach Justin Tatum said.

"That's how it rolls sometimes, and we just have to find a way to play more unselfish basketball to give ourselves a better opportunity to make baskets."

The Hawks head west on Thursday night to face the red-hot Perth Wildcats before returning home to take on the New Zealand Breakers on Sunday afternoon.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 16

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 89 (Lee 24, Harvey 20, Froling 14)

ADELAIDE 36ERS 96 (Kell III 26, Humphries 18, Vasiljevic 14)

BOX SCORE