Hawks rebound in style with win in Perth

The Illawarra Hawks clamped down on Bryce Cotton for the second time this season and on the back of that ended the six-game winning streak of the Perth Wildcats, winning 95-77.

The Hawks arrived at RAC Arena having lost 24 of 27 matches previous in the venue and their past three this season facing a firing Wildcats who had won six straight to be knocking on the door of top spot.

Right from the outset though, Illawarra were on song and interim coach Justin Tatum made the statement by benching underperforming import point guard Justin Robinson.

The group out there responded and for the second time this season, Illawarra focused their defence on denying MVP favourite Cotton the ball.

They would double and triple team him to deny him the chance to play match-winner while daring someone else to beat them.

Todd Blanchfield (16 points, 3-of-6 from three) enjoyed his return to Perth after being relegated out of the rotation last season. A couple of late threes in the first quarter helped the Hawks lead 28-21.

He added six more quick points in the second quarter and when Tyler Harvey (13 points, four assists) stepped up with a couple of threes too, the Hawks were on song and leading by 22.

They were still up 20 at the half and it wasn’t until seven minutes into the third quarter when Cotton made his first field goal for Perth.

He had missed his first five shots and finished the game with 13 points on 2-of-12 after seven points on 1-of-9 last time the teams met.

Illawarra continued to have all the answers with Gary Clark top-scoring with 17 points on 3-of-4 three-point shooting.

Hyunjung Lee enjoyed his starting role with 10 points, four rebounds and three steals with Sam Froling adding 12 points and five boards.

The Hawks improved to 10-12 on the season to be knocking on the door of the top six.

"I'm excited, extremely," coach Tatum said.

"Dropping three games and coming to a place like this and see your team play this well, and as confident as we came out there for 40 minutes, I'm very excited.

"I'm very happy for my group and just hope we can keep pushing."

The Hawks look to make it two from two this weekend as they return home to face the New Zealand Breakers at WIN Entertianment Centre from 2pm.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 17

PERTH WILDCATS 77 (T Webster 16, Cotton 13, Doolittle 11)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 95 (Clark 17, Blanchfield 16, Harvey 13)

BOX SCORE