The Wollongong Hawks' famous fighting spirit returned in spades in Saturday night's 12-point defeat of the Gold Coast Blaze at WIN Entertainment Centre.
With two games remaining in the regular season, Wollongong (14-12) will secure their first finals berth in four years with a win over Melbourne (home) or Adelaide (away) this weekend.
If the New Zealand Breakers (13-13) drop one of their final-round meetings with Gold Coast (home) and Cairns (away), the Hawks will finish in the top four regardless of their results against the Tigers and 36ers.
Full coverage of the Wollongong Hawks "I'm not going to lie, I have been thinking about the play-offs and I really hope we get there," Hawks rookie Tim Coenraad said.
"The excitement is starting to build up a little bit and we can't say we're not thinking about it, but we have to prepare for Melbourne."
Shrugging off last Thursday's 28-point road loss to the New Zealand Breakers, a galvanised Hawks came out swinging against the Blaze, with captain Mat Campbell (23 points) triggering a three-point bombing raid.
The 33-year-old shooting guard hit three straight from three-point land in the opening period, giving the home team a lead they never looked like relinquishing at any stage of the match.
Campbell made 5/8 threes for the game, while Coenraad also starred with a career-high 19 points (4/4 threes) off the bench.
The Hawks connected on 58 per cent of their shots in the first half, including a blistering 7/9 from the three-point line. They finished with 11/16 triples for the game.
But the Blaze were also red-hot in the first two quarters.
Looking right at home, the visitors knocked down 63 per cent of their field goals and 8/13 threes to trail 59-51 at half-time.
After briefly allowing the margin to drop to three early in the third period, the Hawks quickly regained momentum.
They held their nerve throughout the second half, tightening the defensive screws and outworking their opponents under the boards.
Five players scored in double figures, as Wollongong marched to their 12th home victory of the season.
"It was a fantastic win. Thursday's game has gone now after such a good win tonight," coach Gordie McLeod said.
"To bounce back from Thursday's game and play the way we did was really pleasing.
"It was good to see the energy back and see the fire in the eyes.
"The thing that really laid the platform for us was our defence and rebounding in the second half.
"It was a really high quality game in the first half.
"Both teams shot the ball really well. At half-time we spoke about the importance of knuckling down and putting the brakes on them a bit and getting some stops, and the guys did a good job of that.
"We had a number of players playing to their level and even exceeding it and the lift we got off the bench was great."
Playmaker Rhys Martin (15 points, six assists, six rebounds) put together a strong all-round performance for the Hawks and forward Cam Tragardh chipped in a valuable 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Centre Larry Davidson had eight points, nine rebounds and two blocks, while Glen Saville finished with 10 points.
Erron Maxey led the Blaze with 21 points and Chris Goulding and James Harvey had 14 apiece.
Mika Vukona fouled out with 11 points, while Adam Gibson also fouled out after notching 10 points and eight assists.
The Hawks squared the season series with the Blaze at 2-2, but have the upper hand on a superior winning margin.
Gold Coast (15-11) were coming off the previous night's come-from-behind home win over Perth.
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