HAWKS point-guard Gary Ervin is adamant he wants the ball in his hands with the game on the line despite the match-winning shot slipping through his fingers in Wollongong’s 91-89 homes loss to Cairns on Sunday.

The veteran import featured heavily with 21 points, 11 of them in the final quarter, as the Hawks looked to overcome a seven-point deficit at three-quarter time. He also produced a crucial steal with the Hawks trailing by two with 30 seconds remaining but was controversially called for a double-dribble with just three seconds left on the clock.

It was a deflating end to a thrilling game but Ervin said he lives for those clutch moments.

‘‘That’s the life of the sport,’’ Ervin said.

‘‘It goes both ways. That night I probably watched that play about 10 times but as a player that loves to live in the moment and take those big shots...you’re going to be on the tough end of some of them.

‘‘Obviously we were the other night but if I have to be in the same position I’ll attack it the exact same way and most of the time I’ve been successful doing it.

‘‘Any player that loves to take those shots is going to want the ball in those situations but you’ve got to be tough-minded when things don’t fall your way.’’

The loss leaves the Hawks at 1-3 heading into their road game with Adelaide on Thursday, and Ervin said his team can’t afford to dwell on the near miss.

‘‘You’re going to have those games where you have ups and downs, ’’Ervin said.

‘‘You’re going to have those heart-breaking losses you may have games where you lose at the buzzer. Obviously it’s a tough game to lose at home but it’s only early in the season.

‘‘It’s about how you bounce back and how you stay together as a team.

‘‘Losing at home is really tough but we can bounce back and take it on and try to get a road win.’’

Ervin said the Hawks will have to halt a trend of third-quarter fade outs to avoid a horror 1-5 start to the season.

‘‘I think throughout the game we outplay a lot of teams but we just got to learn how to finish it,’’ Ervin said.

‘‘Watching the games I feel like sometimes how we come out in the third-quarter...teams tend to get a big push in that quarter. Obviously it starts with me as the point-guard but it’s a team sport and we’ve all got to do our part. 

‘‘I think if we do a better job of getting our bigs, like Luke [Nevill], touches and have an inside outside presence with Ozzy [Oscar Foreman] and the rest of our pick and pop guys, like Balls [Adam Ballinger], knocking down shots that’s going to be the main thing.

‘‘That’s when it’s going to be easy, when we get those guys involved.’’