A 51-point personal haul from captain Brett Stibners in Saturday night's game against the Red Dust Heelers was the cherry on top of a brilliant weekend for the Wollongong Roller Hawks, who stretched their unbeaten run to 13 games this year.
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The Hawks won all four of their games, overpowering the Heelers 73-42 in their first clash and twice against the Perth Wheelcats, 76-67 and 76-60 in three days of action.
But it was Stibners' personal haul in a 87-35 demolition of the Heelers, in their second battle on Saturday, which headlined
Stibners had even, if only half jokingly, predicted he'd get 50 before the game.
"I wasn't shooting well during the weekend and I said to 'Huss' (Shawn Russell) I'm going to score 50 and his reply was just make sure you make one basket and then I started shooting alright and Red Dust weren't jumping so I kept shooting," Stibners said.
Stibners shot 22 from 29 including seven of nine from beyond the three point arc to register his highest score since games were reduced from 48 minutes to 40.
Stibners had previously scored 59 twice under the old format.
It was a rare solo performance by the Roller Hawks' captain who usually prides himself on leading a team that shares the ball and gets everyone involved.
But it was the two wins over the Wheelcats which could prove most crucial, as Perth fell to a 9-4 record, but still remains second overall.
Perth had beaten the Sydney Blue Hornets in their two other games of the round.
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