Offensive explosion powers Hawks past 36ers

The Illawarra Hawks have returned to the NBL winner’s circle thanks to an impressive 100-89 win against the Adelaide 36ers on Monday.

The stars of the night at the WIN Entertainment Centre were Townsville brothers Harry and Sam Froling - who combined for 45 points.

The former nailed an incredible 8/10 three-pointers, on his way to a game-high 27 points - to go along with nine rebounds three assists and two steals.

Not to be outdone, Sam added 18 points, eight boards, five dimes and one block.

These two stopped up big time after the Hawks lost Duop Reath to a hip injury in the first half.

Others to score in double figures for the hosts were Tyler Harvey (19 points and five assists) and Antonius Cleveland (14 points and five rebounds).

In the defeat, former Hawk Sunday Dech led the way with 20 points, while import Todd Withers scored 15.

Filipino sensation Kai Sotto contributed 12 off the bench, with Daniel Johnson being the 36ers’ other scorer in double figures with 10.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kai Sotto will always remember his first trip to Wollongong thanks to this spin-cycle facial by slammin' <a href="https://twitter.com/samfroling_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@samfroling_</a> ?<br><br>Sam and his brother <a href="https://twitter.com/HarryFroling?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HarryFroling</a> combined for 45 points in Monday's round eight win against the <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Adelaide36ers</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/IbTmViIk1W">pic.twitter.com/IbTmViIk1W</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1485566666474164226?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The visitors raced out of the blocks to lead the Hawks 5-2 after just two minutes before the hosts rattled off 14 of the next 20 points to gain the ascendancy.

The Hawks continued their strong play, including two athletic dunks by Antonius Cleveland, but the 36ers’ commitment on the glass kept them close - as the hosts led 23-19 at the first break.

Brian Goorjian’s team then opened the second period on a 12-6 run, capped off by a big three-pointer by Harry Froling.

That proved to be the second of five straight shots from downtown for the big man, who was the catalyst for the Hawks’ second-quarter surge.

Those five first-half shots, the first time Froling has achieved the feat in his career, ensured the hosts went into half-time up 50-45.

That lead stretched to 11 thanks to five straight points from Harvey - including a crafty floater and dart from downtown.

Harvey’s shot from deep started a three-point barrage from the Hawks, which included Tim Coenraad’s 400th career triple - making him just the fourth Illawarra player ever to achieve that in his NBL career.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats to <a href="https://twitter.com/coenraad22?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@coenraad22</a> on becoming the fourth Hawk ever to hit 400 three-pointers during his <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a> career ?<br><br>The veteran joins legends Matt Campbell (1049 made threes), Glen Saville (680) and Oscar Foreman (464) to achieve the milestone ?<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/kkqwmpDEuL">pic.twitter.com/kkqwmpDEuL</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1485550861913063426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A 31-14 effort in the third quarter made the Hawks the first team to score 80 points through the first three periods, as they led 81-59 going into the final break.

The hot shooting continued in the final term with Coenraad nailing another two and Froling adding another three in quick succession - to see him finish with 8-10 from downtown.

Despite a late flurry from the visitors, the hosts held on to win by 11 and move to 5-3 on the NBL22 season - which marks the second time the Hawks have defeated the 36ers this campaign.

Next up for the Hawks are the Perth Wildcats from 7.30pm AEDT at the WIN Entertainment Centre - with tickets available via Ticketmaster.