Hawks' finals hopes dented by JackJumpers

The Illawarra Hawks’ top-four hopes took a hit on Sunday, as they went down 81-77 to the Tasmania JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena.

The Indigenous round fixture, which marked the first time the two sides had met on Tasmanian soil, was dominated from downtown, with the hosts hitting 14 compared to just eight from the Hawks.

Tasmania, who also won the duo’s inaugural fixture last month, also dominated the assists (22-14) and bench points (34-17) in the round 15 showdown.

Tasmanian skipper Clint Steindl top-scored for the hosts with 20 points off the bench, including six three-pointers - much to the delight of the 4738 in attendance in Hobart.

He was well supported by Jack McVeigh and Josh Magette, who added 19 and 11 points respectively.

In the loss, point guard Tyler Harvey was the high man with 16 points, to go along with four assists and two steals.

Others to score in double-figures for the Hawks were NBL Next Star Justinian Jessup (15), Antonius Cleveland (13) and Duop Reath (12 points and seven rebounds).

Both sides struggled to score through the opening three minutes, as the Hawks led 4-2 before a Cleveland triple extended the advantage to five.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> goes bang-bang from downtown ?<br><br>?: <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSportsAUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FOXSportsAUS</a> 508 and <a href="https://twitter.com/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@espn</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <br> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/56BhanX5zl">pic.twitter.com/56BhanX5zl</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1502837128723832833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The hosts responded with an 8-2 run of their own, capped by a Magette three, to go up 12-11.

A sharp steal and lay-up by Isaac White, followed by two Tim Coenraad free-throws restored the visitors’ lead.

But the JackJumpers went into the first change up 16-15, thanks to a Steindl lay-up.

Four straight threes from Steindl (three) and Jarrad Weeks after the resumption stretched the Ants’ lead to 11.

Brian Goorjian’s side responded in the form of two triples by Harvey and a Sam Froling dunk, set up by Xavier Rathan-Mayes - reducing the margin to just three.

Rathan-Mayes continued his strong play in the second term with a tough and-one lay-up, with Harry Froling’s tip-on soon after bringing the Hawks within one.

That was as close as the Hawks got in period number two, as 13 straight points, capped by two Matt Kenyon lay-ups, saw the Ants go up 47-32 at half-time.

Despite starting Coenraad instead of Reath in the second half, the Hawks couldn’t make any headway on the deficit, as the Ants scored five of the first seven points of period number three.

Three quick points by bench sparkplug White and two free-throws by Reath brought Goorjian’s troops back to within 12 with three to play in the term.

Although Weeks added another triple for the hosts, a corner three by Jessup and putback lay-up Reath got Illawarra to within 10.

The hosts’ three-point barrage continued though, as Steindl landed his fourth triple (10th as a team) to keep the lead in double digits despite a late fadeaway by Reath - as the score was 62-52 at three-quarter-time.

Straight out of the break, Steindl added another two threes, as the lead grew to 16.

The Ants’ radars from deep remained on target, as McVeigh and Magette joined in - as the lead grew to 17 with 6.48 to play.

Goorjian’s side didn’t give up though and continued to grind, bringing it back to within eight following a Rathan-Mayes lay-up.

Two quick steals, thanks to sharp defence by Cleveland, Rathan-Mayes and Harvey, helped the Hawks bring the game to within five with 1.10 to play.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Justinian Jessup with ice in his veins ?<br><br>?: <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSportsAUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FOXSportsAUS</a> 508 and <a href="https://twitter.com/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@espn</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <br> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/X3wPJ69X2F">pic.twitter.com/X3wPJ69X2F</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1502855013479370754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Another stop and clutch three by Jessup made it 76-74 with 40.7 on the clock but an and-one drive by McVeigh put the Ants in front by five.

McVeigh iced the game late with a two-pointer, as the JackJumpers won 81-77.

The Hawks, who drop to 11-8 on the season and into fifth on the ladder, now return home to play South East Melbourne at the WIN Entertainment on Thursday, March 17 for the club’s NBL22 Indigenous round game.

Tickets for the game, tipping off at 7.30pm AEDT, are available via Ticketmaster.