Leaving their run a little too late, the Wollongong Hawks went down 91-89 to Cairns in a tense battle on Sunday night at WIN Entertainment Centre.

The Hawks fought back from a 12-point deficit and held a one-point lead in the final minutes.

But they failed to execute in the dying seconds when they had a chance to tie the game or steal victory with a three-pointer.

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Sunday’s loss followed Friday night’s 10-point road beating from Perth and sent Wollongong to the bottom of the NBL ladder.

The Hawks take on the 36ers in Adelaide on Thursday and have to back up at home against New Zealand on Sunday.

Wollongong guard Jahii Carson tallied a game-high 24 points, Oscar Forman had 23 and Gary Ervin added 21.

Cairns relied on a much more balanced scoring attack and had six players in double figures.

The Hawks won the rebound battle 36-24 and made 48 per cent of their shots to the Taipans’ 40 per cent.

But Cairns had just two turnovers in contrast to Wollongong’s 11.

Hawks centre Larry Davidson made his first appearance of the season after five minutes, subbing in for Luke Nevill.

He chalked up his first points on a put-back two minutes later to put his side up by two.

Loughton was in an agressive mood, scoring seven of his team’s first nine points.

Forman had his eye in at the other end, draining his first three atempts from three-point range.

When Ervin hit his second three, the Hawks held a 23-19 lead with just under two minutes left in the first period.

The Taipans responded by scoring the next four points before Ervin’s clutch jump-shot from the corner gave the home team a 25-23 lead heading into the second quarter.

Cairns made their shots at 57 per cent compared to Wollongong’s 50 per cent.

The Taipans briefly regained the lead before the Hawks hit back with 10-4 surge to forge ahead by six with three minutes remaining in the half.

Cairns answered again, scoring the last eight points of the half for a 45-43 lead.

Forman paced his side with 12 points, Ervin had 10, while Carson scored seven of his nine in the second period.

The visitors showed off their depth with nine players scoring in the half, led by centre Matt Burston’s eight.

Former Hawk Cam Tragardh was a factor off the bench with six points and five of his team’s 14 rebounds.

Cairns had just a single turnover, four less than the Hawks.

Wollongong made all five of fheir free throws, but the Taipans had 13 trips to the foul line and made 12.

The margin swelled to six before Wollongong cut it back to two five minutes into the third quarter.

But the competition leaders were executing far more efficiently, building a 68-59 lead at three-quarter time after being ahead by as many as 12.

Spurred on by their fans, the Hawks conjured a stirring comeback, snatching an 85-84 lead on Ervin’s three with just over three minutes remaining.

Stephen Weigh silenced the crowd almost immediately with a three-pointer right in front of Wollongong’s bench.

Cairns got the lead back up to six and repelled the Hawks’ last-ditch charge.

The Taipans improved their record to a perfect 4-0.