The moment came with six minutes left on the clock with the Hawks holding an 11-point lead at the WIN Entertainment Centre and looking all but home against their perennial bogey side.

Lisch’s ankle-breaking crossover put Beal squarely on his backside and left the Wildcats talisman to remark post-match: ‘‘I thought there was a sniper in gym.’’

What he did next however will go down as one best individual efforts of the season with a pull-up three on the next possession sparking an 11-point burst as the Cats overran the Hawks down the stretch.

It came just weeks after he put up 25 points in another come from behind win over Illawarra in round three with the Vanderbilt University alum averaging 22.7 points and four assists against the Hawks this season.

In an ominous sign for the Hawks, Beal has produced even more scintillating performances at Perth Arena including a 40-point shooting clinic with a club record 10 threes against Melbourne in round 10.

The trip to Perth holds special significance for Hawks forward Cody Ellis who’s father Mike captained what is now the most dominant franchise in NBL history to it’s first two championships in 1990 and 1991.

With outright second spot on the line, he said the Hawks were keen to exact revenge for what remains their only two homes losses of the season and notch the club’s first win at the The Jungle since 2005.

‘‘We feel like we owe them,’’ Ellis said.

‘‘We let two of those games get away from us that we should never have lost.

‘‘They’re tough especially in Perth. They’ve done an unbelievable job to make it into a real fortress.

‘‘It only takes a couple of back to back baskets or a dunk or a big three and their crowd gets into it.

‘‘All of a sudden it can go from a three-four point games out to a 12 or 13 point game in the blink of an eye.

‘‘We need to stem that kind of stuff try to drown out the crowd not let them into it and play hard-nosed d like we know we can.’’

They will have to do it without star scorer Kirk Penney who was ruled out of a last-minute flight to Perth on Wednesday after succumbing to a hamstring injury sustained against the Breakers.

‘‘It’s a big challenge for us without Kirk but it is what it is,’’ Ellis said.

‘We’ve had a season full of that sort of stuff so we’re used to it.

‘‘We’ve got a lot of guys who can step and be big on any given night. It hurts but it’s not terminal.’’