Hawks snap losing streak to bury Phoenix hoodoo

The Result

Illawarra Hawks 82 - SE Melbourne Phoenix 80

The Story

It was almost a case of deja vu for the Hawks tonight as they looked headed for their seventh straight loss to the NBL's newest franchise - but a final quarter offensive explosion from Justinian Jessup and Tyler Harvey dragged the home side to a tough come from behind victory at the WIN Entertainment Centre.

In the second game of the Hawks 'Triple Threat' of home games this week - it was the Phoenix that started best after a sluggish opening by Illawarra.

As he so often does, 'Next Star' Jessup opened the Hawks account with a sweetly stroked three ball, before skipper AJ Ogilvy got in on the action early with two of his own. 

The Hawks seemed to carry some of their offensive malaise over from Wednesday night's loss to the Bullets - and it took Hawks junior Lachie Dent to inject a bit of scoring punch.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Make em pay young fella <a href="https://twitter.com/lachlandent_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lachlandent_</a> _ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/zhuteUp1dZ">pic.twitter.com/zhuteUp1dZ</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1380460661486972936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Phoenix were well led by Ryan Broekhoff again with six early points as they took an 18-10 lead into the first break.

The second stanza saw a return to Hawks basketball - Harvey getting busy as he began to unleash from beyond the arc. Harvey dropping seven points in the space of five minutes as the Hawks pulled back within one.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Getting busy <a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/YCS4JzB908">pic.twitter.com/YCS4JzB908</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1380465101862436867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Jessup continued his fine form knocking down another triple - before one of the Hawks most improved players this season - Deng Deng - took over the game.

The long wingman racking up seven points to go with five boards, a block and a steal in only 10 minutes of first half action.

The Phoenix pinching a handy lead late and heading into the sheds up 41-30.

The second stanza saw a Hawks resurgence early - with the men from the Illawarra getting as close as five points on the back of buckets from big man Sam Froling and Jessup.

But it was Keifer Sykes in his first game back an injury layoff that proved to be a thorn in the side of the home side - the guard knocking down momentum killer after momentum killer for the visitors on his way to 13 points through three frames.

The Phoenix still in front the final break 61-55.

The final term was a ding-dong battle between two clubs desperate to play finals ball this year.

The Phoenix were paced by Kyle Adnam who had 22 in another stellar performance, while Mitch Creek had fifteen off the bench - while the 'Splash Brothers' of Harvey and Jessup continued to connect from deep.

The Hawks pulling ahead through some absurb shooting from Jessup and Harvey down the stretch - the pair combining for 21 fourth quarter points as they stole the game from the Phoenix's clutches and handed the Hawks their first victory over SE Melbourne in NBL history.

The Hawks winners 82-80.

The Stats

As is so often the case with the Hawks this season - success seemes to rise and fall with the three-ball. The home side shot 9/20 from deep at 45% compared to the Phoenix who put up 12/31  at 38%.

Jessup and Harvey managed to drop 9/16 between them including several huge bombs down the stretch.

Coach Brian Goorjian would look at the stat sheet and see a masterful defensive display, with the Hawks racking up nine steals and six blocks for the game. The Phoenix could only manage three steals and failed to register a block for the game.

Both side's struggled from the foul line but the Hawks wouldn't be happy missing eight freebies, while the Phoenix went 6/10.

The Phoenix jumbled their starting lineup a bit which accounts for the superior bench performance (31-14), while the Hawks secured 10 second chance points to the visitors four.

The Fallout

"Really, really special circumctances and the place we're in right now I just thought the losing, a lot of things not going right and to fall 17 down in a game like that against a team like that, not only the fact they've got the boogie on us, but also just the fact that they're good and they're 17 up. and you go back to the Brisbane game, the focus point was, we're ahead, they took a two point lead and we just absolutely panicked, and i just thought we stayed possession for possesion, we didn't quit, we dug deep and I've talked about this group for a long time and I know the expectations after the first four wins were pretty high," Goorjian said.

"I think AJ's having a career year. Really special for me tonight is a guy like Lachie Dent, has done it really hard, never really had an opportunity and tonight it's not one year of work, or six months of work, it's two or three years and the team's in need tonight. I mean those seven, eight, nine minutes he plays, we don't have that, we don't win," Goorjian said.

"It's a really difficult team for us to guard for whatever reason, they've got good interior bigs who can roll and catch and finish plays, they can play in the block and then you've got a multi purpose guy whose hard for us to guard like Mitch Creek, then two guards that can play pick and roll, it's a difficult team to guard...so tonight to hold them to 82, the defence got us back into it," Goorjian said.

"It's probably the best game I've played in in the NBL thus far. We were talking it about before the game and yesterday. We deserved this one. We knew we had to show Goorj we had the fight in us and everyone came out and did that tonight and everyone left it out there on the floor and pretty proud of the effort from all the fellas," Sam Froling said.

"I'm just trying to be comfortable. Tyler and Justinian get so much attention, it frees up me a little bit and I get easy buckets here and there and get dump offs and that helps, and when you feel good you play good. I think it's a little bit of that and then just the off season work, I was in there with Jacob Jackomas [assistant coach] since June last year and he's been working with me and then Goorj came in, we've been doing this for a long time, they really back me and they trust me and that gives me a lot of confidence and let's me go out there and feel really good," Froling said. 

The Road Ahead

Round 13 – Sunday 11 April at 5pm AEDT v Cairns Taipans @ WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong.

The Hawks will play their final home game of the 'Triple Threat' in Wollongong against a Taipans side languishing at the bottom of the ladder.

It will be the fourth meeting between the two side's this season - with the Hawks claiming back-to-back wins in the opening few rounds of the season before the Taipans pinched the contest between the two at the NBL Cup.

A loss to the cellar dwellers wouldn't necessarily end the Hawks season - but it would put it on life support.