Hawks prevail in double OT classic

The Illawarra Hawks have continued their winning ways with a hard-fought double-overtime thriller at My State Bank Arena.

The Hawks turned a one-point lead at the half into a 12-point advantage with three minutes to go before the teams produced one of the more dramatic ends to a game seen for some time.

The final 13 minutes delivered a little bit of everything, with both fan bases on the edge of their seat with every big shot taken, missed, and made.

The Hawks had control of proceedings for most of the night before a late Milton Doyle explosion threatened to steal the victory down the stretch.

He knocked down two long-range bombs in the final 13 seconds of regulation to tie scores up at 86-86 to send the game into overtime.

Doyle then looked like he would be the game-winning hero when he hit two more triples on his way to 19 points and six assists in extra time.

However, he soon fouled out, and Harvey (19 points) was fouled with under a second left.

The Hawks star guard made all three attempts to tie things up at 99-99 to force a second overtime.

The JackJumpers were already without Doyle and McVeigh, who had fouled out, and Will Magnay (13 points, seven rebounds, three blocks) soon joined them after starting the second overtime with a big block on Sam Froling and then a three-point play.

This time it was the Hawks turn to pull it out of the fire. A three from Harvey with 30 seconds to go ended up sealing the deal as they won in double overtime to continue their charge under interim coach Justin Tatum.

Illawarra has won four straight and seven of nine under Tatum to sit fourth at 9-9, hot on the heels of the JackJumpers, who are 11-11, having lost six of the last eight.

The inside presence of Gary Clark (25 points, 15 rebounds) and Froling (23 points, eight boards) put the Hawks in the winning position.

Justin Robinson added 21 points and five assists, continuing his stellar form in the last month.

Afterwards, Tatum was relieved that his team pulled the game out of the fire.

"Just to find a way to grit and grind like that, to have a game in hand, to give it away, to have it again and the back and forth, it's just a big testament to what this group can do," he said.

"I'm really proud of the guys for fighting it out. It's what we've been working and striving for, and that was a tough game."

The Hawks sit fourth on the competition standings and now turn their attention to a Sunday meeting with the Brisbane Bullets at Nissan Arena from 2 pm AEDT.

HUNGRY JACKS NBL ROUND 15

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 107 (Crawford 24, Doyle 19, McVeigh 17)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 108 (Clark 25, Froling 23, Robinson 21)

BOX SCORE