BASKETBALL
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They say every golfer's dream is to shoot his or her age.
Hawks guard Gary Ervin shot his age with a season-high 31 points in last Friday's overtime loss to Melbourne, proving he hasn't passed his use-by date.
"He played really well," Melbourne coach Darryl McDonald said after his team's 103-98 win.
"They can say what they want, Gary's going just fine. He doesn't look like he's slowing down. Today he looked like Gary Ervin. He was tough."
Ervin has been Wollongong's best player over the past four games, averaging 17 points and five assists.
The 2011 NBL MVP said he wasn't himself earlier in the season.
"I think it's just all about being who I am," Ervin said.
"I think that through injuries and coming back trying to fit myself in, I felt myself second-guessing. I sat down and had a meeting with coach [Gordie McLeod] and he told me to just be myself and play like I know I can."
The Hawks were within touching distance of their fourth win of the season on Friday but failed to execute a winning play in the final seconds of regulation.
"We had a great game plan," Ervin said.
"We played great defence down the stretch and they just hit tough shots. Sometimes when you're scrambling you have to give up something. The shots they missed early in the game are the shots they made later. You have to tip your hat to them. They make you pay when you turn the basketball over."
Melbourne went to overtime again two days later against Sydney, pulling out a 105-101 triumph.