The Hawks trailed by as much as 15 in the second quarter, and by 12 at halftime only to storm home to claim the four-point win.

It came after coach  Rob Beveridge tinkered with his starting unit in response to his side's lacklustre start against New Zealand on Friday, with Dave Andersen, Daniel Grida and Emmett Naar all starting the match.

It didn't look to have a major impact when the visitors quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but it told in a 28-18 third quarter for the hosts.

Andersen proved a tower strength inside, finishing with 21 points while Todd Blanchfield was also strong from the bench with 19 points.

Jordair Jett and Cedric Jackson had nine and six points respectively, but combined for seven steals that proved crucial down the stretch.

It saw Beveridge's gamble pay off, but the Hawks coach said it was a case of now or never following his side's effort against the Breakers 48 hours earlier.

“We were really poor against New Zealand the other night and I was very, very hard on the guys, I was cranky. I couldn't let it go,” Beveridge said.

“I have really, really high expectations of the group and I can't let these guys just fall away because I know we're good enough to be a playoff team.

“If nothing changes, nothing changes and I'm trying to find ways as a coach to try something different. Out of 15 games, 12 or 13 we haven't started that well. 

“We didn't start that well [on Sunday] either but it wasn't meant to be a punishment at all, I just had that gut feeling that I had to make a change.”

“It was remarkable, we didn't train, we had a quick walk-through today and that just shows me how much of a mental game it is.

“For us to be able to play defence like we did in the second half was as good as I've been involved in for a long time.”

Bryce Cotton had 14 of his 21 points in the first half for the visitors, while Tom Jervis (12) and Terrico White (10) were the only other Cats in doubles figures.

It keeps the Hawks in touch with the top four ahead of their traditional New Year's Eve home clash with Brisbane next Monday.

Kevin White open his side's account with a three to halt a 7-0 run early, with Andersen also finding his range, though Cotton made the early running with two triples as the lead show out to 10.

Blanchfield kept his side in touch with two threes of his own but couldn't pull the margin back into double digits by quarter-time.

Jett opened the second term with a three, though Clint Steindl hit straight back in response to keep a handy buffer for the Cats.

Blanchfield continued to fire from deep before Andersen dropped his side's next eight points on a 10-4 run that forced Trevor Gleeson into a timeout with the margin back at eight.

It put a dent in the hosts momentum with Mitch Norton steadying from the line and Cotton nudging in a lay-up on the buzzer to give his side a 12-point cushion at halftime. 

Ogilvy had four points on an 8-2 run to start the third term that forced an angry Gleeson into a quick timeout with the score at 52-46 in favour of the visitors.

Blanchfield and Jackson kept the momentum going after the resumption to bring the margin back to three with Ogilvy squaring things with a rare triple midway through the term.

Andersen also hit from the perimeter before Coenraad took the Hawks first lead of the game with a four-point play.

Cotton stemmed the bleeding for the visitors with his fourth three and the Cats took a slender two-point lead into the final break off a step-back from White.

Jett landed a long bomb to start the fourth and Andersen added four more on a 9-2 run that saw the home side lead 75-70 with five minuted to play.

Jackson looked certain to extend it to seven only to be hit with a baffling offensive foul on Norton, who rubbed salt into the wound with a three at the other end.

Blanchfield had five straight points out of the ensuing timeout, with Cotton going 4-4 from the line in the final 30 seconds to keep the Cats in it before Andersen iced the game from the line.