Departing Wollongong captain Mat Campbell received a perfect send-off tonight at WIN Entertainment Centre, as the Hawks thrashed the Adelaide 36ers 92-78 in the final game of his storied career.
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Needing to win to avoid a last-place finish for just the second time in club history, the Hawks never looked like losing. They finished the season with three straight wins to improve their overall record to 9-19, relegating the 36ers (8-20) to wooden spoon status.
Campbell, who famously saved the Hawks from death three years ago by initiating a last-ditch fund-raising campaign, received the keys to the city from Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbury in a moving pre-game ceremony.
More than 5000 fans responded with a standing ovation for the 35-year-old guard and the Hawks soaked up the emotion, racing to an early lead en route to a convincing victory.
‘‘I’m a little bit overwhelmed by all the attention,’’ he said later. ‘‘Nobody here owes me anything, I owe all you people everything. It’s been my life and something I’m very proud of. I’m happy to have you guys as part of my life and I thank you all.’’
A career 40 per cent marksman from the three-point line, Campbell was 0/5 in his swansong appearance.
But the 17-season, 524-game veteran walked away from the game with his reputation and legacy to the club intact.
Coach Gordie McLeod called Campbell out of the game with just over a minute remaining to another standing ovation before the former Bendigo boy completed the evening with a lap of honour on his team-mates’ shoulders moments after the siren.
In another plus for the Hawks, forward Oscar Forman finished the season as the NBL’s best three-point shooter. Forman connected on almost 51 per cent of his long-range attempts over 28 games and hit 5/8 last night on the way to a game-high 22 points.
Centre Larry Davidson was outstanding with 16 points and eight rebounds, Rhys Martin was superb with 11 points and nine assists, while Dave Gruber and Ayinde Ubaka combined for 18 points.
The Hawks jumped out of the blocks, surging to a 15-4 lead and forcing Adelaide coach Marty Clarke to call his first time-out. Campbell gave the crowd exactly what it wanted, scoring on a hard drive to the basket in the second minute to ease any nerves he might’ve been feeling.
Davidson was having an impact at both ends, tallying seven points and four rebounds in the first quarter, while Martin made his presence felt off the bench with three points and three assists.
Wollongong were moving the ball beautifully - they had seven assists as a team and eight players on the scoresheet in the opening period - and were crashing the glass with purpose (10 rebounds to five).
When the siren sounded to end the first quarter, the lead was 31-19 and the Hawks were well on their way to climbing off the bottom of the ladder. Wollongong immediately picked up where they left off, boosting the margin to 15. Adelaide occasionally ate into the deficit, but the home side’s lead was always double figures.
The Hawks finished the half with a flurry of long bombs - they were 9/15 from three-point range - and stretched the margin to a commanding 59-38 at the main break.
Forman had a team-high 10 points, Martin had nine to go with six assists, while workhorse forward Gruber chipped in seven points and four rebounds off the bench. Wollongong hit a sizzling 65 per cent of their field goal attempts and racked up a whopping 16 assists.
The only hot hands for the Sixers were Stephen Weigh (nine points), Diamon Simpson (nine) and Dan Johnson (eight). Adelaide briefly got the margin back to 16 in the third period, but the only thing that really changed was the tempo of the game.
After lighting up the scoreboard in the first half, the Hawks were out-scored 15-12 in a dour third quarter.
But they picked up the pace again in the fourth quarter to guarantee Campbell a fitting farewell.
