SHOWING extreme maturity despite being an NBL Next Star, Trentyn Flowers stepped up late to lead the Adelaide 36ers to their first win of the season, downing the Illawarra Hawks by nine points.

Heading into Saturday’s game at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, the 36ers had sustained four losses from four games, but had delivered some brave performances against quality opposition. On the other hand, the Hawks downed the Phoenix in Round 2 to give their season some hope, but were coming off a big loss to the JackJumpers just a couple of days earlier.

The stakes were high in this game, with both teams needing a win to avoid slumping to a disappointing record just three rounds in.

It looked as if Adelaide’s troubles would continue, trailing by 12 points early in the match, before import Trey Kell III kept the 36ers in the hunt with some offensive potency. However, the Hawks still led in the fourth quarter, before Flowers struck. The Next Star led his side to victory with one of the most emphatic offensive explosions from any player this season, with Adelaide claiming a maiden win for the 2023/24 season.

Flowers was a match-winning presence for the 36ers, showing his true capabilities when the game was on the line.

Adelaide 36ers (89) def. Illawarra Hawks (80)

Trentyn Flowers – 23 points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal

It was the poster performance from a Next Star, with Flowers simply taking over the match in front of Adelaide fans that had been starved of a win to start the season.

Heading into the final term, Adelaide was on the back foot with the Hawks holding a lead on the scoreboard and the 36ers drying up on the offensive end. One of the biggest issues for Adelaide to start the season has been a lack of a consistent, go-to option on the scoring front, and it looked as if this would sting the team once again.

However, coach CJ Bruton gave Flowers some minutes after he knocked down a shot on the eve of three-quarter time to give the team a breath of life. The talented young gun made the most of the added responsibility and fired his team to victory.

Of his 23 points, 18 came in the decisive final term, as Flowers got off the chain and single-handedly stormed past the Hawks on a massive scoring run.

He did his best work from behind the arc, showing no hesitation when given the ball in terms of shooting the ball. Upon receiving the ball, Flowers instantly put up a three-pointer on plenty of occasions, and despite getting some close checking on a lot of those shots, looked a seriously impressive shooter.

His shooting action is smooth and appears unaffected by the defender in front of him. It also allowed him to fire off some shots in quick fashion in rapid catch and shoot fashion.

In the first seven minutes of the quarter, Flowers outscored Illawarra 18-10, knocking down four three-pointers in that time and completely erupt on the scoring front.

It was a key performance in Flowers’ career, with the wing projected to be a top 10 selection in next year’s NBA Draft. Saturday’s performance did no harm to those prospects by any means, and should put him on the map in a big way.