The Hawks trailed by 10 just seconds into the second term on the back of a red-hot shooting effort from Bullets sharp-shooter Cam Gliddon, but produced a 24-3 blitz to turn a double digit deficit into an 11-point lead.

The ultimately took a nine-point buffer into halftime and went on with it in the second Brian Conklin continuing to win over the Hawks faithful with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in a dominant display inside.

Dave Andersen had all 12 of his points in the first half while Cedric Jackson found his groove with 11 points and five assists. Tim Coenraad also showed his value as a sixth man with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Gliddon had 15 of his 24 points in the first quarter at 5-7 from three-point range, while Reuben Ta Rangi had 14 points and six boards and Matt Hodgson finished with 11 points largely offset by six turnovers.

It was the Hawks first home win and sets up a chance to go 3-2 against a United side fresh off a double-overtime heart-breaker against the Wildcats and likely without star guard Chris Goulding who injured his knee in the five-point defeat.

The visitors went 8-17 from three-point range, including Gliddon's five triples, in the opening quarter, while Te Rangi hit his first two attempts from the perimeter and Adam Gibson also got in on the act. 

Todd Blanchfield had six, while Conklin and Andersen had five as the Hawks kept in touch from the paint. Gliddon's third triple forced Rob Beveridge into a timeout as the lead swelled to six and nailed two more following the resumption to take an eight-point cushion into the first break.

The lead ballooned to 10 when Mika Vukona had an easy lay-up but the Hawks stormed back to front, with Coenraad nailing two triples, while Daniel Grida and Andersen also had threes on a 23-4 run to take a 46-35 lead.

The Bullets went ice cold from deep, going 0-4 from the perimeter, with a pair of free-throws from Cadee their only points in response until Hodgson finally added a point from the foul-line.

Gliddon dropped his sixth three to stem the bleeding but Conklin and Andersen continued to be go-to men inside, finishing the half with 12 points each as Hawks dominated the paint 26-12.

The Hawks struggled to get out of the locker room in the third, with Bairstow and Hodgson dropping four each on an 8-0 run that cut the margin back to one and forced Beveridge into a timeout.

It had the desired effect, with Conklin and Jackson grabbing four points each and Coenraad dropping a step-back jumper from mid-range to push the lead back out to nine and force Andrej Lemanis to call time.

AJ Ogilvy produced an and-one play and skipper dropped the second of two threes for the quarter on the buzzer to take a then game-high 12-point lead into the final change.

Coenraad and Ogilvy had quick buckets and Jordair Jett and Jackson got in on the act as the lead ballooned to 14 with four minutes remaining. 

Gliddon finally got going again with back to back threes bringing the deficit back to single digits at 81-72 and Vukona managed a three-point play that also saw Conklin fouled out as it moved in to six.

It was as close as they got with Jett producing a rim-rattling slam and two from the line to push the margin back out to 10 inside the final minute with the clock stopping at 86-78.