Hawks Heartbreak in Cairns

The big guns of the Illawarra Hawks lifted them to a vastly improved performance including a starring role from Michael Frazier II but the Cairns Taipans did enough to hold them out and claim the thrilling 102-101 double overtime win in the Far North.

The Taipans hosted at Cairns Convention Centre on Saturday a Hawks team fresh off losing on Thursday night in Melbourne to the South East Melbourne Phoenix by 39 points, but this was a different Illawarra outfit.

The Hawks put up a terrific start to the game to lead by 11 at quarter-time on 4/7 three-point shooting and still being up five at the half.

The Taipans responded with a strong third quarter but still couldn’t shake the Hawks and eventually it was a three-pointer with a minute to play that sent the game to the first overtime.

DJ Hogg and Frazier starred in the first overtime but again the two teams couldn’t be separated and eventually in the second extra period, a couple of bombs from Hogg and then strong finishes from Pinder were enough for the home team to sneak off with the one-point win.

The Taipans will be relieved to have found a way to escape with the win with Tahjere McCall finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

It was Hogg who turned it up late in the fourth and the two overtime periods, though, to end up with 23 points with 5/11 from long range.

Pinder added 18 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, and Shannon Scott 12 points, 13 boards, six assists and three blocks.

The big guns of the Hawks all had impressive games determined to make up for Thursday night. Frazier led the charge in his fourth game for the club with 26 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals while hitting 6/10 from deep.

Sam Froling added another 22 points and six rebounds with Tyler Harvey contributing 21 points, four steals and three assists with 5/11 from beyond the arc. Peyton Siva also had 13 points and eight dimes, and Deng Deng 11 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

Fresh off the hiding on Thursday to South East Melbourne, the Hawks came out strong in Cairns racing to a 6-2 lead thanks to co-captains Sam Froling and Tyler Harvey. That soon became 12-6 following triples from Harvey and Deng Deng, and then 17-9 with another Harvey triple and bucket to Frazier.

Illawarra then also closed out the opening quarter with three balls from Peyton Siva and Michael Frazier to be up 27-16 after one on the back of going 4/7 from downtown to 1/5 from Cairns. The Hawks also had five extra rebounds and scored nine points off the five Snakes turnovers.

The Hawks maintained that momentum to start the second quarter and it was Frazier and Froling combining for their first 10 points to see them open up a 16-point advantage.

Cairns got a steadying three-pointer from Shannon Scott, but Deng answered in kind for Illawarra but eventually the Taipans did work back into the contest.

It started by turning up the intensity defensively which helped them push the pace a little, and then DJ Hogg went on his own 8-0 scoring run. Majok Deng brought the margin back to three just before half-time but the Hawks still led 48-43 by the break.

With Froling, Frazier and Harvey combining for 35 of the 48 Illawarra points, their guns were delivering but Cairns got back into the game largely on the back of 15 rebounds in the second quarter.

The Taipans came out an inspired outfit to open the second half scoring five quick points and then Piner scored inside to level scores up, and Bul Kuol drained a three to put them in front for the first time in the game.

They would stay there the rest of the quarter as well including another triple from Jonah Antonio and a huge drive and dunk from Sam Waardenburg over an optimistic challenging Davo Hickey.

The Snakes were on top 67-63 by three quarter-time on the back of the 24 points to 15 in the quarter, but the Hawks weren’t going to go down without a fight.

The Hawks stayed close and got back level with a triple from Siva with five and-a-half minutes to play. Frazier and Harvey then hit three balls soon after and it was the Hawks back on top with their lead out to four with a nice jumper from Siva.

It was Cairns' turn to respond and the home team delivered with the next seven points with five of them from McCall. That had them back up three, but with 12 seconds to play Harvey hit the biggest shot of the night and that tied scores up and sent it to overtime.

Frazier opened the extra period with his sixth three of the game but then McCall scored a nice bucket in the block and Hogg dropped a three from way downtown to give Cairns the two-point edge.

Frazier scored again on a tough make, though, for Illawarra to tie scores up with Cairns having possession out of a timeout with 22.5 seconds to go. A tough floater from McCall was the look the Taipans had but the result was a second overtime.

A massive offensive rebound on a missed free-throw from Deng threatened to be pivotal for Illawarra, but a Hogg three up the other end gave the Snakes the one-point edge.

Froling hit two free-throws for the Hawks but then another triple from Hogg put the home team back up two before Harvey scored the most remarkable of contested threes to beat the shot clock for Illawarra.

That was his fifth three of the game but eventually Pinder put Cairns back in front and in the end that was enough to secure the win with the Hawks unable to hit at the buzzer after Pinder's two missed free-throws.

The Hawks will next host the Sydney Kings on Friday night after their Round 10 double.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 10

CAIRNS TAIPANS 102 (McCall 23, Hogg 23, Pinder 18)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 101 (Frazier II 26, Froling 22, Harvey 21) 

BOX SCORE