Ball grabbed plenty of attention with the first triple-double of his NBL career and was incredibly supported by Tim Coenraad as Illawarra recorded a 114-106 victory in overtime against Cairns Taipans.

Coenraad was particularly lethal from beyond the arc - nailing six three-pointers - on his way to a personal tally of 27 points. Together, Ball (32 points) and the veteran contributed more than half of the Hawks' score.

It was easily Coenraad's best performance this season: he now averages 9.09 points per game in 2019/20.

"It was nice to see the ball go in," the 34-year-old said.

"Over the last week, I've put up a lot of shots, watched a lot of video and really worked on my shot because I felt that [form] was starting to dip down. I wasn't shooting with confidence and that's never been me.

"I had to make a change. No matter what, if I'm open, it's going to go up. If I make two [shots] in a row, there's no guesses at what will happen next. I'm looking for it again, that's always the kind of player I've been. If I hit two shots, I want three, I want four."

Coenraad is a 10-year Hawks veteran and is the team's second oldest player behind Josh Boone.

The experienced forward said he was building strong connections with young star Ball, 18, and Emmett Naar, which proved crucial against Cairns.

"It helps when you're playing with guys like LaMelo and Emmett. We're starting to develop that chemistry," Coenraad said.

"They now know where I'm going to be. They know I'm not going to be on the rim [for example] - it's not what I do.

"It's all coming together but, before we start patting each other on the back too much, we've got a lot of work to do."

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Monday night's win means that Illawarra's season record stands at 3-8. All three wins have come against Cairns.

Next up are the Breakers on Saturday. Last time the sides met, New Zealand secured a 103-72 victory.

Coenraad was delighted to beat the Taipans but said "we can't just be happy with this".

"The bottom is line is we're still 3-8. We've got a big hole to dig out of and one win, is one win," he said.

"Now we've got to back this up, it's all well and good to feel good about yourself, and we will, but you've got to get back to work and we've got to build now."

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