The Hawks escaped by the skin of their teeth with a 104-97 overtime win over the Crocs on Saturday that cemented a play-offs berth.

They did it the hard way against a Townsville side that, despite their lowly spot on the ladder, have developed a reputation as the league’s best scrappers.

They almost scrapped the Hawks out of a win on Saturday before the class of Kirk Penney got Illawarra home and Beveridge said it was a lesson for his side.

‘‘No way in the world did we take them lightly,” Beveridge said.

‘‘We wanted to play high-tempo but we can’t play up-tempo if we keep taking the ball out of the net. We played their style of game where I think they are one of the best executing teams in the half-court.

‘‘In saying  I’m pretty pleased we did make some big plays when it counted. Play-offs will be like that and they gave us a great lesson.”