The Hawks trailed by 15 points midway through the second quarter only to trail by eight at halftime and by 19 in the early stages of the third before a long-range shooting clinic from Rotnei Clarke and Oscar Forman got them within five down the stretch.

Both efforts at re-taking the lead fell short however, with the Kings doing enough to close it out and maintain there grip on top spot on the ladder. It saw Sydney go up 3-0 in the series and halted the run of momentum the Hawks built on road wins in Perth and New Zealand.

Clarke ended the match with 29 points at lethal six of nine from long range while Forman had 15 of his 18 points in the final term also at 6-9 from the perimeter. Once again, former Hawk Kevin Lisch proved chief destroyer for the Kings with 17 of his 23 points coming in the second half to get his side home.

He was ably assisted by back-court partner Jason Cadee who had 22 points while Greg Whittington had 20 points and six rebounds and Brad Newley had 15 points and seven assists 

Kevin White got the Hawks off to a flyer with four points and a steal while Whittington set the tone for the visitors with seven points including two three-point plays.

The injection of the Hawks second unit swung momentum back to the visitors, with a transition three from Clarke the exclamation point on a 9-0 run that forced Sydney coach Andrew Gaze into a timeout.

The stoppage helped the visitors regather themselves with a 7-0 run of their own seeing the scores locked at 25 apiece at the first break.

Clarke had two triples early in the second but four points from Lisch and a triple to Whittington saw the Kings lead by four midway through the term. It set in motion a 12-3 run for the visitors that saw the margin stretch to seven halfway through the quarter.

Coenraad had three from the line and Oscar Forman added a timely triple but it was the Kings who took all the momentum into the main break, leading 52-44.

Lisch had four quick points after the resumption while Cadee dropped a three as the lead blew out to 15. With their grip on the contest slipping Clarke hit three triples from three attempts on a 12-2 resurgence that put the match back on a knife-edge at 65-62.

It forced Gaze into a timeout with the Kings regrouping largely on the back of Lisch who added six after the stoppage and finished with 12 points for the quarter to re-establish a 12-point buffer at the final change.

Garlepp had four and Cadee dropped his fourth triple as the lead ballooned out to 19. Clarke had five and Forman hit two long-range bombs on an 11-2 run to again peg back the lead.

Clarke’s sixth three of the evening and three more from a red-hot Forman got the margin back inside single figures at 96-91 with less than a minute to play but it was as close as the Hawks got with Lisch and Newley closing the show for the visitors.