BASKETBALL
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Complacency shouldn’t be a problem for the Wollongong Hawks in this Sunday’s rematch with the Cairns Taipans.
Wollongong completed a remarkable eight-day jump from last to fourth with Saturday night’s road victory over Cairns, coming from 16 down to win by three.
The win was their second over the Taipans in as many meetings and left the Hawks in a strong position to clinch the four-game regular season series when they get reacquainted on Sunday at WIN Entertainment Centre.
Captain Oscar Forman said the Hawks won’t be brought undone by over-confidence, after conquering the Taipans twice on their own court.
‘‘Just because we got another win at their place, it doesn’t mean we’re just going to come home and get them again,’’ Forman said.
‘‘There’s a lot of things we need to fix. There’s a lot of plays they got us with that we didn’t work out.
‘‘Our rotations in the first half were quite poor and we struggled to run some stuff with our offensive sets in the second quarter.
‘‘They’re going to deny [Hawks guard] Rotnei [Clarke] at times and we have to work harder to get catches and have stronger leads.
‘‘We have to work hard on some things to make sure we get the win on Sunday.’’
Forman was prominent in crunch time in Saturday’s triumph, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Tiggs chalked up a game-high 20, Clarke had 18 and Rhys Martin added 11.
‘‘The effort areas were the big focus after the first half,’’ Forman said.
‘‘You could feel the momentum swinging and that gave us confidence. In the fourth quarter we made plays and hit shots, and we got some stops and rebounds.
‘‘We’ve come back from big deficits now, so we’re comfortable knowing we’ll give ourselves a chance if we stay with the process.
‘‘We’ve got a lot of shooters, and if we hit a couple of shots and stretch the floor, it’s tough to guard us.’’
Hawks guard Tyson Demos almost had to sit out the game with a shin infection and is likely to be on light duties this week.
The Taipans plummeted from fourth to seventh.
‘‘We just lost our way in the third,’’ Cairns coach Aaron Fearne said.