High-powered Hawks defeat Phoenix in Indigenous round clash

The Illawarra Hawks have powered their way back into the all-important top four, thanks to an impressive 103-97 win against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday.

The star of the show during the Indigenous round showdown at the WIN Entertainment Centre was Duop Reath, who tallied 22 points, 12 rebounds, one assist and one steal - to take out the annual Tyson Demos Medal.

Supporting the Australian Boomer in the win was guard Tyler Harvey (22 points and two assists), Antonius Cleveland (16 points and four assists), Xavier Rathan-Mayes (15 points, five rebounds and two assists) and Sam Froling (14 points, eight rebounds and three assists).

These performances, along with superior free-throw shooting (92 per cent to 52 per cent), rebounds (41-34), steals (6-4) and second-chance points (23-16), secured the Hawks’ 12th win of NBL22.

In the defeat, the Phoenix’s second straight to the Hawks, Zhou Qi top-scored with 23 points, to go along with his eight boards.

Other in double-figures for the visitor were Mitch Creek (17), Xavier Munford (13), Izayah Le'afa (12), Brandon Ashley (11) and Kyle Adnam (10).

The Hawks exploded out of the blocks, thanks to triples by Harvey and Jessup, as well as a dunk by Sam Froling, to go up by six in less than two minutes.

The visitors hit back with five straight from Zhou Qi, before a quick nine points, capped by a Tim Coenraad three, making it 19-10.

Brian Goorjian’s troops continued their offensive onslaught, led by Reath’s nine first-quarter points, to lead 30-20 at the first change - marking Illawarra’s top-scoring first period al season.

The hosts didn’t take their foot off the gas, chalking up nine of the first 15 points in the second term, to extend their lead to 12, thanks to a classy left-handed finish by Cleveland.

Simon Mitchell’s side didn’t go away though, rattling off eight of the next 10 points, powered by forward Reuben Te Rangi.

Despite a four-point play by Coenraad, it couldn’t stem the flow, as the Phoenix closed to within four, with a minute to play in the half.

A late bucket by Rathan-Mayes ensured the host went into half-time up by five.

The star of the first 20 minutes was Reath, who hit all seven of his field goals (including two triples) and two shots from the charity stripes - for 18 points and nine boards.

Point guard Harvey came out assertive in the second 20, scoring five quick points, as the lead grew to seven.

Not to be outdone was Sam Froling, who chalked up eight early points in the term - complemented by numerous dimes and boards, to help the hosts extend the margin to 72-61.

The game of runs continued, as Munford sparked the visitors to a 5-2 run.

But six straight by Rathan-Mayes, including a driving lay-up as time expired, steered the Hawks to an 84-66 three-quarter-time lead.

Knowing the importance of the game, the Hawks brought plenty of intensity once again in the fourth, highlighted by the strong play of Cleveland and Reath.

With the game on the line, the Phoenix clawed their way back into it with an 11-2 run, to close the margin to just 10 with 4.08 on the clock.

The margin was cut to five when Creek hit Qi with an alley-oop but Harvey’s lefty floater settled it for the hosts.

Adnam muscled his way underneath for a putback, to bring the match to within three.

But Rathan-Mayes held his nerve and hit a clutch triple with 20.2 on the clock, to make it 101-95.

The game was iced by a dunk by Cleveland, sealing the six-point win.

Next up for the Hawks, who improve to 12-8, is a trip to Launceston's Silverdome to face the Tasmania JackJumpers, from 5.30pm AEDT Saturday.