Hawks lose heartbreaker to Phoenix

The Illawarra Hawks have fallen out of the NBL top four after losing in heartbreaking fashion to the South East Melbourne Phoenix 88-87 on Monday.

At the WIN Entertainment Centre, Xavier Munford led the way for the Phoenix with 24 points, five assists two rebounds, one steal and one block.

Joining import Munford in double-figures was his four fellow starters Mitch Creek (20 points), Izayah Le'afa (13), Zhou Qi (11) and Ryan Broekhoff (11) - who also pulled down 16 rebounds.

This balanced scoring and wins the rebound count (44-33), points in the paint (50-34) and field goal shooting (48-43 per cent) proved the difference between last season’s two semi-finalists.

In the loss, point guard Tyler Harvey scored 20 while adding three assists and a pair of boards and steals.

Harvey was well supported by teammates Sam Froling (17 points and five rebounds), Duop Reath (15 points, eight rebounds and four assists) and Xavier Rathan-Mayes (13 points, eight rebounds and five assists).

<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/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/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/I9QdNpSSQ3">pic.twitter.com/I9QdNpSSQ3</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1490614388356632579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Reath made a strong start to the match, assisting on Justinian Jessup’s opener before driving on Zhou Qi for the Hawks’ second and hitting a three for his side’s third - with Tim Coenraad also nailing a deep three in his first start of the season.

Despite this, the visitor jumped out of the blocks better, to lead 17-10 after five minutes.

The Phoenix continued their impressive scoring in the opening period, jumping out to a 14-point lead (26-12) after a driving lay-up by Creek.

The hosts closed the margin to 10 by quarter-time, thanks to a crafty fade-away jumper by Rathen-Mayes.

Illawarra carried this momentum into the second term, starting the period on an 8-0 run - which included two triples from Harvey.

South East Melbourne responded after a time-out, to stretch the lead back out to double-digits.

But two late triples, from Harvey and Harry Froling, ensured Brian Goojian’s troops went into the break down by less than 10 (47-38).

Milestone man Jessup, who was playing his 50th game for the foundation club, scored the hosts first five points of the third quarter, cancelling out Izayah Le'afa’s two buckets.

A buzzer-beater by Reath brought the hosts back into four but quick hits by Munford and Broekhoff saw the lead balloon back to nine.

The two sides traded baskets, before Harvey’s 10th and 11th points for the term brought the hosts back to within six before a Sam Froling buzzer-beater made a three-point game (66-63) at the final break.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/samfroling_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@samfroling_</a> with ice in his veins to end the third term ?<br><br>?: <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/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/CmijsOOAcv">pic.twitter.com/CmijsOOAcv</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1490626310841913352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That energised Froling to start the fourth, scoring the Hawks’ first four points of the term - giving the Hawks their first lead since the opening quarter.

Tough baskets by Le'afa and Munford were matched by Rathan-Mayes and Antonius Cleveland, as the score was tied 78-all heading into the final three minutes.

Reath was clutch for Illawarra late in the piece, hitting a triple and then forcing a steal, which led to a Cleveland jam.

Another Cleveland hammer put the hosts up by three but four late free-throws, including two off a controversial last-second foul on Rathan-Mayes, sealed the dramatic one-point win for the Phoenix.

Next up for our Hawks, who are now 6-6, is another home fixture at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Saturday, when they host the Cairns Taipans from 5.30pm AEDT - with tickets available via Ticketmaster.