Hawks shine during weekend's NBL1 action

Numerous Illawarra Hawks talents took the NBL1 court across Australia over the weekend, as they continue to keep working on their games, ahead of the NBL23 season.

Close to home, exciting youngster Akoldah Gak made his first appearance for Illawarra's NBL1 East side, during their round five fixture with the Maitland Mustangs at the Snakepit.

The centre tallied 27 points, on 12/17 shooting from the field, while pulling down six rebounds and adding two steals, as the Hawks won 103-93, to move to 4-3 on the season.

Next up for the Hawks is another home fixture, with the side, that also features former Illawarra sharpshooter Oscar Foreman, taking on Manly-Warringah from 7.30pm AEST this Saturday at the Snakepit.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A HUGE debut from Akoldah Gak, going for 27 points in his first game with the Hawks. <br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL1East?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL1East</a> live and free on <a href="https://t.co/NEk1I7BLMG">https://t.co/NEk1I7BLMG</a> and the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL1</a> App ??? <a href="https://t.co/c2M1FsKjCP">pic.twitter.com/c2M1FsKjCP</a></p>&mdash; NBL1 (@NBL1) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL1/status/1522898461527474176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Moving to Queensland and three Illawarra talents lined up in the NBL1 North division across Friday and Saturday - during their Pink Round.

At JBS Stadium on Friday, Ipswich, headlined by Isaac White, battled Brisbane, led by Lachlan Dent.

Despite 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal from White, his Force went down 82-80 in round two.

In the win, Dent tallied six points, four assists and two steals for the Capitals.

Moving onto Saturday and White's Force look to rebound against the South West Metro Pirates at the Hibiscus Sports Stadium.

Unfortunately for White, his team fell for the fourth time this season, going down 105-92 - despite 22 points, nine rebounds, two assists and one steal from the Illawarra guard.

That same night, Alex Mudronja and his North Gold Coast Seahawks were defeated by the Red City Roar 92-81 at Paul Bancroft Centre.

In the defeat, Mudronja recorded 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals in his 28:58 minutes.

Looking ahead to round three, Dent's Capitals travel to Rowland Cowan Stadium on Saturday to face Southern Districts, while Mudronja's Seahawks will host White's Force from 7.30pm at Runaway Bay Stadium the same night.

White and his Ipswich outfit will then back it up the following night, for a Sunday showdown with Red City from 3pm at JBS Stadium.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Fresh off his <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nbl</a> season with <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@illawarrahawks</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacLewisWhite?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IsaacLewisWhite</a> put up 19 points tonight for <a href="https://twitter.com/Ipswichforce?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Ipswichforce</a> but it wasn&#39;t quite enough against <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisCapitals?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrisCapitals</a> <br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL1North?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL1North</a> live and free on <a href="https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG">https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG</a> and the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL1</a> App ??? <a href="https://t.co/1jHXYGLWE5">pic.twitter.com/1jHXYGLWE5</a></p>&mdash; NBL1 (@NBL1) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL1/status/1522551177086648330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The final Hawk in action across the weekend was big man Harry Froling, who is playing in the NBL1 South competition with the Hobart Chargers.

Even though Froling notched a double-double (15 points and 10 rebounds), to go along with four steals, two assists and two steals, his Tasmanian outfit went down 82-78 to Kilsyth at Kingborough Sports Centre.

Froling and his side are on the road for a double-header this weekend, starting on Saturday against Diamond Valley at Community Bank Stadium, before travelling to the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre to take on the Melbourne Tigers from 2.30pm.

All NBL1 fixtures this season are streamed live via their website.