The Illawarra Hawks secured another massive road scalp after wearing down the Brisbane Bullets in a 98-88 victory on Saturday night.
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After beating Perth Wildcats and New Zealand Breakers away from home in recent weeks, Illawarra showed poise and class to nail down second spot on the NBL ladder with a 8-7 record.
The Hawks guards were instrumental in a seesawing battle at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Import Rotnei Clarke was ultra impressive again off the bench with a game-high 24 points while Mitch Norton (14 points) and Kevin White (11) both played great cameos.
Big-men AJ Ogilvy and Nick Kay were also heavily involved.
Ogilvy had nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals and Kay produced 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Bullets back-up centre Tom Jervis top scored with 18 points, with seven rebounds as Jermaine Beal (16 points), Torrey Craig (16) and Daniel Kickert (14) all breached double figures.
It was a tight battle from the get-go, until the Hawks showed their class in the closing stages.
The visitors struggled to get going early until Clarke provided a spark off the bench.
The American guard scored 11 points off the bench in the first quarter to help the Hawks to a 26-22 advantage.
Kay’s long bomb rounded out a 9-0 Illawarra run to start the second to extend their lead to double digits.
But just as soon as the seesaw fell in the Hawks' favour, the hosts stole back the ascendancy.
Beal, Jervis and Kickert all chipped in with baskets to lead a 14-2 run for Brisbane which saw them eventually steal back the lead at 39-38.
It was an Adam Gibson treble which had them in front, but again it was short-lived as Illawarra led 46-46 at the main change.
A pair of Norton threes and more hot shooting from Kickert saw the lead change hands five times in the opening three minutes of the third.
It proved the norm for the quarter as both sides struggled to break free.
White’s second three in the final seconds to give the Hawks a 69-67 buffer at the end of the third.
Illawarra put themselves in the box seat with an 8-0 run to start the fourth as White drained another treble, but Brisbane refused to give in.
After trailing by double digits again, they closed to within one on the back of another Gibson three.
However, just when the Bullets got close the Hawks put the clamps down on defence.
It allowed former Townsville duo Kay and Norton to sink crucial buckets down the stretch to secure a 10-point win.