The Hawks are a huge step closer to a playoffs berth after downing Adelaide by 97-83 in front of more than 3000 supporters at the WEC on Sunday afternoon.
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The hosts, wearing their Indigenous Round jerseys, were again inspired by Tyler Harvey, who finished with 23 rebounds, six rebounds and five assists, while Sam Froling had 14 points and five boards. For the 36ers, ex-Hawk Sunday Dech led the way with 15 points.
The Hawks led at every break in arguably their most comprehensive recent performance. The win means that Illawarra have jumped up to third spot on the NBL ladder, with two final home regular season games to come this week.
"The game in New Zealand (on Friday night) was very emotional, everybody in the locker room was as excited as I've seen the team all year. It was such a huge win for us and with a quick return like this at three o'clock in the afternoon, me as a coach, I wondered if we could go there again," Hawks coach Brian Goorjian said.
"Our style of play involves energy, communication and a lot of those things. And I saw it right from the first two, three minutes of the game, I thought they were on. The bench was alive and ready, they were all communicating down there. There was energy on the floor, we were defensively running the floor. I just thought we were in a really good position on how we want to play.
"So I felt good once that ball went up and I saw the first two minutes. I thought we were where need to be right now heading into these (final) games."
The 36ers jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but a Justin Simon steal, followed by Harvey's basket, got the crowd cheering.
After an AJ Ogilvy lay up, the visitors settled to take a 10-6 advantage, before Tim Coenraad drained a trademark three-pointer for the Hawks. Justinian Jessup nailed one from long range soon after to give the hosts a 13-12 lead.
The ball continued to move from end to end quickly, with Harvey and Dech proving important for their respective sides, as Illawarra took a 24-23 lead late in the quarter.
But it was the Hawks who finished strongly at both ends of the floor, highlighted by threes to Dan Grida and Emmett Naar, to take a 31-25 advantage into the first break.
The Hawks came soaring out of the blocks in the second, going on a 6-0 run, before Dech and Daniel Johnson baskets cut the margin to 37-29. Illawarra again responded, with Harvey's floating jump shot and a nice Isaac White three extending their advantage to 42-29 before a timeout was called.
The 36ers scored the next four points, but a Coenraad three and back-to-back White baskets saw the Hawks take a 49-33 lead. Play continued to ebb and flow for the remainder of the term, with Illawarra holding a 52-38 advantage at half time.
Both teams shot at just under 50 per cent from the field in the half.
Harvey led all-comers with 14 points and three assists while White - who was huge in the second quarter - had eight points and three rebounds. For Adelaide, Dech mustered nine points, and Johnson and Keanu Pinder had seven boards apiece.
It was an arm wrestle to start the second half, but nice Justin Simon and Harvey threes helped the Hawks jump out to a 64-45 lead. Adelaide's Tony Crocker then drained one from long range to cut the deficit to 16 points.
The game continued to ebb and flow, highlighted by threes to Coenraad and Adelaide's Brandon Paul, as the Hawks led 69-54. Illawarra then surged ahead, with Froling's two free throws and another Coenraad three extending their lead to 74-54.
After Dech's lay up, it was Grida who took the spotlight, mustering back-to-back baskets and a steal to give his side a 22-point buffer.
Froling went two from two from the charity line, which was cancelled out by a Dech bucket. But Jack McVeigh's buzzer-beater from halfway cut the deficit to 80-61 going into the last quarter.
Harvey came out firing in the last term, mustering a basket and three-pointer to extend Illawarra's lead to 85-61. The 36ers responded by scoring the next four points, before a Deng Deng three gave the Hawks a 23-point buffer.
Illawarra led by 92-67 when the three-pointers began to rain, with Adelaide's Jack Purchase mustering three, and Brandon Teys and Deng one apiece, as the Hawks led 96-79 late in the quarter.
Adelaide finished strongly, but the hosts were able to claim a comfortable 97-83 win - their 19th victory of the season.
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
