Wollongong Hawks marched to their fourth straight win last night at WIN Entertainment Centre, overpowering a stubborn Cairns Taipans by 10 points.
Down by three late in the third quarter, Wollongong surged home strongly in crunch time to boost their home record to a perfect 5-0 and remain on top of the NBL ladder.
They led by as many as 13 in the final period and will be brimming with confidence when they hit the road for a Saturday night date with the second-placed Perth Wildcats.
Full coverage of the Wollongong Hawks Star guard Tywain McKee led the scoring with 19 points, but the Hawks had no shortage of contributors.
Centre Larry Davidson (14 points, nine rebounds, two blocks) was a force at both ends, Cam Tragardh (11 points) constantly caused problems for the Taipans' defence and Glen Saville (10 points, five rebounds, one steal) had a strong all-round game.
Captain Mat Campbell (nine points, four rebounds) was instrumental, while back-up forwards Tim Coenraad and Dave Gruber combined for 10 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.
Cairns were led by Julien Mills' 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.
The Hawks drew less than 3000 fans (2936) for the first time this season, but the attendance figure was probably affected by the fact the game was televised live and was scheduled during the week.
Wollongong will be hoping to be 6-1 when they return for next Wednesday's home meeting with Melbourne.
But they have won just nine of 46 road games in the past three seasons and have to prove they can win away from home before they can consider themselves title contenders.
Both teams are known for their defence, but the scoring flowed freely from the get-go and it was 14-14 midway through the opening quarter.
Davidson was cooking for the Hawks with a couple of threes and a tip-in, while McKee hit two running jump-shots in the paint.
Cairns forward Dusty Rychart got away to a good start against his former team, scoring on a pair of neat spin moves in the low post.
The Hawks gave up too many second shots, allowing Cairns to grab seven offensive rebounds.
But they grabbed seven offensive rebounds of their own to skip out to a seven-point lead and were still up 24-19 at the close of the first period.
McKee was filthy with himself after uncharacteristically missing two free throws at the end of the quarter.
The fast-paced tempo slowed to a crawl in the second period, as both teams struggled to find the basket.
A perfect McKee pass found Tragardh for a lay-up, giving the Hawks a 33-25 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the half.
But the Taipans responded immediately, with American guard Mills' three-pointer sparking a 9-2 run.
Tempers were simmering when Saville collided with Cairns guard Aaron Grabau, who was playing his 300th NBL game.
Saville slammed hard into Grabau as he cut to the basket, knocking him to the floor.
Grabau couldn't believe it when he was whistled for a foul, while Saville headed to the free throw line.
The Taipans were fuming again moments later when back-up guard Dwayne Vale picked up his first foul after heavy contact with Coenraad.
The pair exchanged words briefly as Coenraad nailed one of two foul shots.
Cairns outscored the Hawks 18-16 in the period and trailed 40-37 at half-time.
Davidson's 11 points led the home side, while McKee and Saville were up to seven apiece.
Gary Boodnikoff led Cairns with nine and Rychart had seven.
Wollongong made 47 per cent of their shots in the first half compared to 39 per cent for Cairns.
Both teams were ordinary at the free throw line, with the Taipans sinking 7/12 and the Hawks 6/11.
A Grabau three-pointer two minutes into the third period put Cairns in front.
Wollongong forged ahead 44-42 before the Taipans regained the upper hand with Vale's long-range bomb.
But Tragardh's lay-up and free throw put Wollongong in front,
The lead soon reached double figures and the Hawks were never headed down the stretch.
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