Hawks slump to fifth loss of season against Breakers

The Illawarra Hawks slumped to their fifth loss of NBL22 on Wednesday, going down 90-67 to the New Zealand Breakers at MyState Bank Arena.

Leading the way for the hosts, during the closed-door game in Hobart, was centre Yannick Wetzell, who posted 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

Wetzell was well supported by teammates Peyton Siva (14 points), Will McDowell-White (12) and Jeremiah Martin (12) - with Finn Delany adding seven points and 13 rebounds.

For the Hawks, Tyler Harvey did all he could, scoring 17, with two dimes and two boards.

Others to score in double figures for the Hawks were birthday boy Antonius Cleveland (16), Justinian Jessup (10) and Duop Reath (10).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> showing off his silky handles ?<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&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/1uNTqkwBFT">pic.twitter.com/1uNTqkwBFT</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1488810997754531841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks, who were playing in their 50th game under coach Brian Goorjian, started the stronger of the two sides, thanks to five early points by Reath.

But two and-ones and a triple by McDowell-White saw the hosts charge back into the lead 14-11.

Then five straight from Siva stretched that to five points, forcing Goorjian into a time-out.

That stemmed their flow, as the Breakers went in quarter-time up 26-20.

New Zealand started the period on fire, scoring the first seven points before Harvey dropped in a basket.

Costly turnovers and poor execution by the Hawks, compounded by tough buckets by Wetzell saw the hosts’ advantage balloon to as many as 22 in the second period - marking the first time Illawarra has trialled by more than 20 all season.

Despite a late three by Reath, the Hawks were out-scored 26-13, to trail 19 at the main break.

In the third, early baskets by Cleveland were cancelled out by Wetzell - who proved to be hard to stop all night.

Cleveland put the Hawks on his back though, scoring 16 points in the third quarter alone - the most by any Illawarra player in any term this season.

This powered the Hawks to win the term 24-18, to go into the final term down 11.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">16 third-quarter points by <a href="https://twitter.com/ac_uno1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ac_uno1</a> keep us within striking distance ?<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&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/2xa9bXPUxs">pic.twitter.com/2xa9bXPUxs</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1488813228209897472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A quick two by Xavier Rathan-Mayes and step-back three by Harvey cut it 10 and the comeback was on.

Another dart from downtown from Harvey got it back to single digits (eight) but it was cancelled out by Frenchman Hugo Besson.

That proved to be as close as the visitors got, as Dan Shamir troops ended the fixture on a 17-2, to win by 21 points and chalk up their third win of NBL22.

The main difference between the Breakers and Hawks were rebounding (42-31), assists (15-9), three-point percentage (36-25) and bench points (36-9) - with Rathan-Mayes scoring off nine for the visitors.

The Hawks, who drop to 6-5 after their lowest scoring effort and biggest losing margin of NBL22, will next play the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Monday from 7.30pm AEDT at the WIN Entertainment Centre - with tickets available via Ticketmaster.