THEY'VE been a tough find this season and Illawarra were again left looking for a silver lining after a 21-point hammering at the hands of Melbourne United on Monday night.
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The Hawks led by one at halftime in Wollongong but were made to pay for a sluggish start to the third term that saw the trail by nine heading into the final term. They never looked lime reeling in the deficit, going down 94-73 and falling to 3-11 for the season.
The visitors were without star import Casey Prather, who injured his hamstring in a 23-point drubbing at the hands of Sydney on Saturday, but steadied to 9-7 on the tough second leg of a weekend double.
Melo Trimble led the way for United, stuffing the sheet with 22 points seven rebounds and six assists. Shawn Long had 21 points and 14 rebounds in a double, while Chris Goulding (10 points), Shea Ili (10) and Mitch McCarron were also in the doubles.
With star rookie LaMelo Ball and veteran skipper Dave Andersen watching on from the bench in civvies, Emmett Naar produced his best performance of the season with 12 points and three assists in the first half.
He went cold in the second, finishing with 16 points, but having enjoyed precious few opportunities since Ball's arrival, showed why he won so many plaudits in his rookie season.
With a year to run on his three-year deal with the club, Naar remains a look to the long-term future, but the short-term continues to look bleak ahead of Friday's road trip to Adelaide.
Angus Glover also continued his strong run form with 15 points while AJ Ogilvy had nine of his 13 points in the opening term.
It was a tough night for new import pair Darington Hobson and Billy Preston, who went a combined 2-21 from the field in a forgettable first outing for their new club.
They ultimately combined for seven points and remain very much a work in progress with Ball's possible return still three weeks away at best.
Ogilvy got going quickly with nine points, including a long bomb, in the opening but Long answered with a triple of his own with two emphatic slams.
Melbourne looked certain to lead at the break before Naar grabbed an intercept and beat the buzzer with a lob from the car park to cut the margin to one at 25-24.
Naar grabbed first points of the second with a neat runner and followed up with a three as the Hawks led by one at halftime but it was all the visitors from there.
Long had six points in the first two and a half minutes of the third term, with a long bomb from Goulding shooting the hosts out to a 50-44 lead.
Glover injected some spark with a pair of threes from the bench but the visitors took a nine-point cushion to the final break.
It was more the enough, the margin swelling to 21 by the final buzzer.
