The Wollongong Hawks are tantalisingly close to the club's first NBL finals berth in four years after last night's clinical 93-86 defeat of the Townsville Crocodiles.
Picking up where they left off from last week's 21-point demolition of Gold Coast, the Hawks led at every change against the Crocs, connecting on a red-hot 57 per cent of shots.
They led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter and withstood the visitors' fourth-quarter charge.
Full coverage of the Wollongong Hawks Forward Cam Tragardh spearheaded Wollongong's assault with 19 points and eight rebounds, while late-season signing Luke Martin showed he is anything but a stop-gap with a dazzling display off the bench.
Playing just over 20 minutes, the 29-year-old guard finished with 14 points and six assists.
Also starring were rookie Tim Coenraad (15 points, three rebounds, three assists) and captain Mat Campbell (17 points, four rebounds, three assists).
American guard Corey Williams scored a game-high 22 for the Crocs and centre Russell Hinder had 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Hawks kept a firm grip on top four spot, improving to a league-best 11-1 at home and 13-10 overall.
Townsville slipped to 12-9 and have lost all three regular season games with Wollongong. Both teams fly to Townsville today to prepare for tomorrow night's re-match at The Swamp.
Crocs guard Pete Crawford immediately put Townsville on the front foot last night, hitting a trio of three-point bombs in the opening two minutes of the game.
But the Hawks hit back with 12 unanswered points to lead 15-9, forcing Crocs coach Trevor Gleeson to call his first time-out six minutes into the first quarter.
Campbell and Tragardh were both cooking as the lead swelled to eight.
Williams briefly took away the home side's momentum with three strong drives to the basket, but the Hawks regained control, with backup playmaker Martin's buzzer-beating lay-up making it 28-20 at the end of the first period.
Martin continued to provide spark off the bench, penetrating the defence for another lay-up and calmly sinking a three as the shot clock was about to expire.
Coenraad took it on himself to ensure Wollongong maintained the upper hand, draining a pair of threes to boost the margin to 13.
That became 15 when Coenraad made a difficult running jump-shot and free throw a minute before half-time, while back-up centre Tim Behrendorff sunk a three-pointer to give the Hawks a 55-38 lead at the main break.
Campbell had 13 points and three assists, Tragardh was up to nine points and five rebounds and Coenraad chalked up nine points.
The Hawks hit a season-high 65.6 per cent of shots in the first half, including 7/11 from three-point territory.
They turned over possession just four times and out-rebounded their opponents 19-14.
Crawford led the Crocs with nine points, Williams had eight and Hinder chipped in six points and five rebounds.
Wollongong held sway, but the game erupted three minutes into the third quarter when Saville took exception to a shove from Roberts.
The pair squared off briefly and the 3077-strong crowd were unhappy with the ref's decision to award the Crocs a trip to the free throw line.
Martin kept his near-perfect night going, knocking down another three and a buzzer-beater to put his side up 76-60 heading into the final period.
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