The visitors toyed with the Hawks under the boards, out-rebounding them 63-42 to set up a 111-105 win.

A massive 29 of those rebounds were under the offensive glass, as Sydney outscored their NSW rivals 24-15 on second-chance points.

Wollongong were without centre Larry Davidson (knee injury), Glen Saville (Olympics) and American forward Dusty Rychart (QABL semi-final), while Cam Tragardh soldiered through 40 minutes, despite picking up an ankle injury in the final minute of last Friday's training session.

"Last year every time we played them they hurt us on the boards, so I know they're a very good rebounding team, and we've got to get better at that," Wollongong coach Eric Cooks said.

"Tonight we were definitely a bit small, but that's no excuse because a lot of their guards got second shots, and that's something we need to focus on.

"We've got to do a better job of boxing people out."

Anthony Petrie had a team-high 11 rebounds for the Hawks, while former Hawks forward Troy Pilon - a late call-up to cover the absentees - grabbed eight in 16 minutes off the bench and guard Lindsay Tait also had eight.

Tragardh only managed four rebounds and his injury also seemed to affect his shooting touch.

Mat Campbell led the Hawks with 29 points (6/10 threes) after having 18 to his name at half-time, while Petrie had 19 points (9/13 field goals) and three steals.

Kavossy Franklin finished with 15 points and Tait had 14 with six assists.

Julian Khazzouh was unstoppable inside for Sydney with 32 points (12/16 shooting) and nine rebounds, while Liam Rush posted 27 and 11 and Damien Martin had 16 and 10. The Hawks were up 30-27 after one quarter before Sydney forged ahead by two at the main break.

The Spirit extended that to eight heading into the final quarter and led by as many as 15 before the Hawks mounted a late charge.

Sydney had their own injury concerns, with Matt Knight (concussion) leaving the court in the opening quarter after running into the end wall. Forward Graeme Dann also sat out the second half with an ankle problem.

Davidson is likely to be fit to take on the Spirit in Friday night's trial at Penrith and Rychart should also be available.