MELBOURNE United brought Illawarra’s seven-game winning streak at home to an abrupt halt on Thursday with an 80-73 victory at the WIN Entertainment Centre.
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It was Hawks’ first home loss since November and all but assured United of a top-two finish heading into the final round of the regular season.
Stephen Holt proved the chief destroyer for the visitors with 23 points including 12 in the fourth quarter while Chris Goulding finished with 13.
The absence of veteran sharp-shooter Kirk Penney grows more conspicuous by the game with the Hawks again struggling from three-point range, landing just 2-13 from beyond the arc in the first half and finishing at 7-32.
Melbourne were only slightly better in the first with 4-14 but found their range in the second with 7-15 to seal the win
In the absence of Penney, Kevin Lisch again led the Hawks with 21 while Cody Ellis was close to their best with 17 points from bench while AJ Ogilvy and Tim Coenraad each had 11.
It leaves the Hawks at long-odds to secure a home finals series come week one of the play-offs but a win over Townsville at home on Saturday would put them two wins clear of Adelaide in third spot.
A three-point play from Majok Majok got things going early before Holt added four and Goulding chipped in with the first of two triples for the quarter on a 7-0 run that opened up a 14-7 lead for the visitors.
Lisch had six in response to keep the Hawks in touch with a mid-range jumper from Rhys Martin cutting the deficit back to three at the first break.
Ellis made his presence felt early in the second with two quick buckets and a three-point play as the Hawks pegged the deficit back to 24-23.
Nate Tomlinson added five from the bench as the lead stretched to nine at 41-32 before Ogilvy sunk four straight from the line to cut the margin back to five at the main break.
Ellis exploded out of the blocks to start the third with a pair of threes and another couple from the stripe to momentarily take the lead at 46-43.
Brad Hill drained back-to-back threes in response and finished a personal 8-0 run give his side five points grace.
Lisch and Goulding traded five points each before a hard foul from Larry Davidson sparked melee and brought the crowd to its feet. Davidson and Kickert ended up unsportsmanlike fouls with the score 58-55.
Holt drained a perfect three of three from long-range early in the fourth for a 71-62 lead before Blanchfield and Warrick closed the show from the line.