Hawks slump to fourth straight loss

The Hawks (1-4) remain in last spot and are under pressure to show what they are made of in Sunday’s home game against the New Zealand Breakers.

Victory seemed plausible when Wollongong led 36-31 early in the second quarter.

But the 36ers pulverised the Hawks in the third period and went on with the job after a minor lapse in the opening stages of the fourth quarter.

Hawks import and ex-36er Gary Ervin poured in a game-high 29 points and centre Luke Nevill added 12, but no other Wollongong player scored in double figures.

Jahii Carson endured a 1/7 shooting night, back-up guard Tyson Demos made just 1/8, while Oscar Forman and Adam Ballinger were a collective 2/11.

Wollongong hit just 38 per cent of their shots and grabbed 32 rebounds.

The Sixers were an efficient 54 per cent and hauled in 39 rebounds.

They also made 8/13 three-pointers in contrast to the Hawks’ 8/24.

Guard Adam Gibson was one of five Adelaide players in double figures and also tallied seven assists and seven rebounds.

BJ Anthony had 15 points, while Luke Schenscher and Jamar Wilson finished with 14 apiece.

‘‘We’ve been lacking effort and energy in our last three games so that was our main focus,’’ Gibson said.

‘‘Defence wins games and our defence really stepped up in the second and third quarters.

‘‘We know Gordie likes to run offence a lot, so with the changing up of some new guards [Ervin and Carson] in their system, we thought we could confuse them a little bit, and we did that tonight. That was a focus for us.’’

Nevill provided an imposing presence inside in the first quarter, scoring eight points and grabbing two rebounds to help Wollongong get away to a positive start.

Adelaide chipped away at a five-point deficit, forging ahead by three midway through the quarter.

Ervin went from warm to boiling with a spellbinding scoring spree, racking up 15 points in the period.

The Sixers answered the challenge and cut Wollongong’s lead to 31-29 at quarter-time.

Ervin picked up where he left off, adding a three from the corner and lay-up to extend the margin to five.

Sparked by Gibson’s six points, Adelaide peeled off a 12-0 run before Ervin’s pair of free throws broke a five-minute scoring drought for the Hawks.

Tim Coenraad nailed a long three in the closing seconds to cut Adelaide’s lead to 47-44 at half-time. Ervin’s 22 points led Wollongong, while Nevill had 10.

Adelaide had a more balanced spread with Gibson and Schenscher combining for 21 and Anthony contributing 11 off the bench.

Both teams had three turnovers, while Adelaide grabbed 20 rebounds to the Hawks’ 17.

The Sixers connected on 51 per cent of their shots compared to 43 per cent for their opponents.

It was all over bar the shouting after three minutes of the third period, as the home team out-scored Wollongong 11-0.

The Hawks’ situation didn’t improve after a time-out by McLeod.

Adelaide’s aggressive defence harassed Wollongong into seven turnovers in the quarter and restricted them to 12 points.

Shots were falling at the other end and the lead blew out to 77-56 with a quarter to play.

Ervin was the catalyst of the Hawks’ brief revival, dropping a three-point bomb and dishing to Nevill for a lay-up.

Brad Hill found Oscar Forman for his first three of the game and hit one of two free throws a minute later to cut the margin to 12.

Ervin followed with a pair of free throws before Gibson’s basket broke the visitors’ 11-0 surge.

The air went out of Wollongong’s sails over the final five minutes and the Sixers cruised to a confidence-boosting victory.