The Wollongong Hawks kept their NBL playoff hopes well and truly alive with last night’s 88-82 road win over Melbourne.
Spearheading the victory was guard Adris Deleon, who tallied 31 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Also shining for Wollongong was centre Larry Davidson (23 points, 9/11 shooting), while Oscar Forman, Tim Coenraad and Dave Gruber combined for 24 points.
‘‘We’ve been in a lot of games where teams have made unbelieveable plays to get the win, and that’s just the way it is, but last night it was our turn to do that,’’ Hawks coach Gordie McLeod said before the Hawks boarded a Sydney-bound flight this morning.
‘‘Each team made runs at different times, and we were able to do enough. Our defence stood up when we needed it to stand up. We got good contributions from everyone.’’
The Hawks were down by six at half-time before surging ahead by nine at three-quarter time.
The Tigers tied the game with a 9-0 run to start the fourth period before Deleon and Davidson steered the visitors to a crucial win.
Wollongong (11-14) are in third spot with three games remaining. They are away to Townsville next Saturday and finish the season with home games against Sydney and Adelaide.