Harvey the hero as Hawks edge out Breakers in double-overtime epic

That was the final conclusion after Illawarra opened their home account with a thrilling 97-96 double-overtime win over New Zealand in Wollongong on Friday night.

After a stunning back and forth affair that saw 14 lead changes and the scores tied 12 times, Besson looked to have sealed an upset victory with a monster three from the Kmart logo for a one-point lead with 16 seconds left.

It gave the Hawks one final chancE at a go-ahead, with Harvey willing his way to the basket and dropping the final points with two seconds left. The Breakers couldn't find a Hail Mary, seeing the Hawks move 3-0 on the season.

Harvey finished 26 points and eight rebounds after cold start from the field, but the Hawks talisman stood up when it counted after his attempt at a game-winning three in the first period of overtime rimmed out.

Justinian Jessup finished with 21 points at a tidy 50 per cent from deep to go with five rebounds and four assists, while Duop Reath had 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and overtime along with 12 rebounds.

Antonius Cleveland had 12 points and nine rebounds while every one of Xavier Rathan-Mayes 11 points counted big in a back and forth affair.

Yannick Wetzell was monstrous for the visitors, dropping 13 of his 25 points in a dominant first term and finishing with 16 rebounds. Besson had 20 points and eight rebounds while import Jeremiah Martin had 10 of his 14 points after three-quarter-time.

Will McDowell White had 17 points and eight rebounds but it wasn't enough to stop the Breakers slumping to an 0-4 start to their campaign.

It was an epic win but the home side were almost made to pay big for a meek start that saw them trail by 15 in the first quarter. The fightback was gruelling but ultimately successful, with coach Brian Goorjian saying the overwhelming feeling was one of relief.

"I knew we had a team coming in that's talented, well-coached and totally desperate in a situation where you can't really afford to start the season 0-4," Goorjian said.

"There was a lot of will coming into the game [for them]. Our team has had nothing but praise and talk of how great we are, [being] favourites, and a totally unusual situation for this club.

"I thought a lot of the game was the mental game and I tried to stroke that before we hit the floor. I thought we came out on the back foot, they hopped all over us and I thought we did a great job to climb back into the game.

"It was basket for basket in the half-court, it's something they're very good at, and I just thought our main guys made great plays under pressure at the end of the game and came out with a very, very important win."

The Hawks now face the tough task of traveling to Brisbane for Sunday's clash with the Bullets on the back of the gruelling extra 10 minutes on the floor. Goorjian said he'll have to reach deep into his roster.

"That's the challenge now leading into this next one, you play a double-overtime game, you're on the road and then you play in the afternoon," Goorjian said.

"The bench is going to become important in this thing. We're going to have to go in there deeper. It's coming and, this one after this double-overtime, we're going to have to get contributions from those guys off the bench.

"We need to get those guys involved. That's the next step, getting those guys on the bench involved in the game and we haven't done that over these first three games.

"It's a big challenge on Sunday and we're going to need them."

Reath grabbed an early four points but it was Wetzell who took command of the paint, dropping 11 straight points as the Breakers shot out to a 12-point lead.

McDowell-White twisted the knife with his first from deep as the lead ballooned to 15. Wetzell added another slam before Rathan-Mayes grabbed a much-needed bucket on the buzzer with the margin at 13.

Cleveland got things going in the second with an and-one and Jessup's follow-up three forced Dan Shamir into a quick timeout just a minute into the term.

It did little to stem the bleeding for the visitors, with Jessup punctuating a 15-2 run with another triple that against forced Shamir to burn a timeout with the scores level at 29 apiece.

It had the desired effect, the Breakers steadying with four points to Finn Delaney and a triple from McDowell-White to re-take a three-point lead and prompt Goorjian to use his second timeout.

It slowed the pace, with McDowell-White and Rathan-Mayes trading shits from the stripe to close the half with with the Breakers holding onto a two-point cushion.

The sides went back and forth as the Hawks splash brothers got going, Jessup grabbing seven, including his third three, while Harvey took his tally to 12 with a quick follow-up from deep to take a three-point lead that saw Shamir again halt proceedings.

Besson took control with eight points to close the term, including his first triple, as the Breakers took a three-point lead to the final break.

Reath exploded to start the fourth, grabbing a quick four points and punctuating a 9-0 start to quickly grab a six-point lead. It looked like it could be slipping away fro the visitors before Martin levelled back-up at 68 apiece with three minutes left.

Wetzell rolled to the basket to put the Breakers and 75-74 lead with 34 seconds remaining before Harvey came up the floor and drained a clutch three for a two-point buffer.

McDowell-White levelled at the rim at 77 apiece, leaving the Hawks with nine seconds for a go-ahead bucket they couldn't find, sending the game into overtime.

The battle didn't end there with the Hawks going ahead 82-83 on an incredible reverse slam from Reath before McDowell-White levelled in the paint.

Harvey had the chance to nail a go-ahead three but it rattled off the rim, sending the game to double-overtime, but he made no mistake with his second attempt at the match-winner the second time around.

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