Whatever the problem is, the Hawks were on the wrong side of another close game on Sunday in Wollongong, going down 86-84 to the New Zealand Breakers.

The Hawks were tied at 81-81 with a minute remaining but were outhustled and outsmarted when the game was on the line.

It was a similar story last Thursday when last-placed Wollongong lost in overtime to the league-leading Breakers.

The Hawks have lost their past five games and their record stands at 3-17.

New Zealand boosted their record to 16-5 and have won an imposing 12 of their past 14 games.

Wollongong guard Gary Ervin racked up a game-high 25 points, Tim Coenraad finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Jahii Carson tallied 11 points and three steals.

The Breakers spread the offensive workload, with forward Mika Vukona (17 points) one of six players in double figures.

Wollongong made a tidy 51 per cent of their shots and won the rebound battle 30-28.

But the story of the game was the Hawks' mistakes. They turned over possession 15 times and handed the visitors 13 points directly from their errors.

Breakers guard Corey Webster got his side straight on the front foot with a three-pointer in the opening seconds.

Oscar Forman replied with an alley-oop for the Hawks but the visitors swiftly asserted their authority with a 15-6 run, prompting coach Gordie McLeod to use his first time-out.

Webster was unstoppable, pouring in 10 quick points and setting up Vukona for a jump-shot.

Wollongong briefly stopped the bleeding before the Breakers took advantage of more holes in the defence and built a 26-13 lead.

Luke Nevill was successful with one of two free throws and Adam Ballinger made a shot to cut the deficit to nine at quarter-time.

After trimming New Zealand's lead to four early in the second period, the Hawks allowed themselves to fall behind by nine again.

But they continued to chip away and were down 36-32 with four minutes left in the half.

When Ervin came off Nevill's screen and drained a jump-shot two minutes later, the Hawks had their first lead of the game.

But the joy was short-lived, as the Breakers outscored the home team 8-3 for a 47-43 half-time lead.

Coenraad was Wollongong's main spark plug with 12 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Ervin had 11 points.

Webster led his team with 12 points and four assists and underrated back-up guard Rhys Carter added 10 points off the bench.

The Hawks had 20 rebounds to New Zealand's 12, while both teams hit 53 per cent of their shots.

Forman splashed a pair of threes and Ervin also fired one home from three-point range, but the Breakers kept their noses in front, holding a 59-56 lead with four minutes to play in the third period.

Carson's three tied the score at 59-59 before Ekene Ibekwe broke the deadlock with consecutive jump-shots.

Hawks forward Brad Hill drove in for a lay-up in the final seconds to bring his team within a point at three-quarter time.

The Breakers won the final quarter back-and-forth slugfest.