ILLAWARRA Hawks saw off another NBL25 challenger on the road last night, defeating Brisbane Bullets with a powerful second half performance. Trailing by five points at the first break, the Hawks won the last three quarters by 23 points to score a 102-84 victory at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Winning four of their past five matches, the Bullets came in with form to match that of the top of the table Hawks who had won four on the bounce. In a high-scoring first term that saw a combined 63 points, the Bullets took a 34-29 quarter time lead.

After the poor defensive start, the Hawks turned an offensive showpiece for fans into a defensive struggle, grinding out a 19-16 second quarter win to cut the deficit to two points. By the third term, the Hawks had taken complete control of the game, putting the foot down to produce a dominant 34-18 quarter.

Having the momentum well and truly on their side, the Hawks kept the foot down in the fourth to score another quarter advantage of 20-16 to run out 102-84 winners in front of more than 6000 fans.

Critically the Hawks took away the Bullets’ big advantage of rebounds, winning the tally 40-33, while still maintaining their strength in assists with double that of the Bullets (18-9). Shooting at an impressive 55 per cent from inside the arc and 49 per cent overall, the Hawks showed their fluidity on offence, and were just as outstanding on defence, plucking 15 steals to four.

Once again it was Illawarra’s evenness that got the Hawks home, with dominant backcourt duo Trey Kell III (18 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals) and Tyler Harvey (17 points, four rebounds and two assists) both putting up consistent numbers again.

They were well supported by big men Sam Froling – who had a huge double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds – and Lachlan Olbrich (11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks). Backup guard William Hickey (12 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals) also maximised his 19 minutes on court.

Unfortunately for the Bullets, the work was yet again left up to too few, with Casey Prather putting in an enormous shift of 28 points – 11/18 from the field and 4/5 from three-point range – as well as three rebounds and two blocks. Josh Bannan (17 points, six rebounds) and Isaac White (10 points, two rebounds) were the others in double-figure points, while Tyrell Harrison (nine points, nine rebounds) came close to a double-double.

Illawarra Hawks coach Justin Tatum said he had to manage the tight turnaround from two days earlier, and though disappointed with the first term, was pleased with how his side turned it around.

“I just told the guys to stick with it and that I was going to use all 10 or 11 guys in that first quarter because I wanted to make sure we stayed as fresh as possible for the second half,” he said.

“We didn’t want to allow 34 points in the first quarter but I was glad we were able to sustain it and the guys got their rhythm, and groove to be able to finish the game.”