It seems leadership agrees with Tyler Harvey and Sam Froling, with Illawarra's newly-minted co-captains combining to get the Hawks home 85-81 over New Zealand at the NBL Blitz on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
What looked like a walk in the park turned into a street fight for the Hawks, who led by 17 at quarter-time only to briefly surrender the lead in the fourth quarter.
Enter Harvey, who had 14 of his 27 points in the final 12 minutes, including some show-closing free-throws down the stretch.
Froling produced a first-quarter explosion for 12 points and five rebounds and finished with 19 points and seven boards.
Justin Robinson showed his class with 13 points and eight assists, with his poise crucial down the stretch.
French Next Star Rayan Rupert showed why he's tipped to have an NBA future, dropping seven of the Breakers' meagre 10 points in the opening term and finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Cam Gliddon was 4-6 from long range for his 15 points, while Izayah Le'afa also had four triples in his 13 points to go with nine assists.
Illawarra shot out to a 16-0 lead before the Breakers finally struck a blow, Froling doing the bulk of the damage that saw his side lead 27-10 at quarter-time.
The Breakers scraped their way to double digits on the back of Rupert's seven points and the pace slowed dramatically in the second term, five points to Tom Vodanovich and another four to Rupert pegging the margin back in a 23-17 quarter for their side.
Rupert brought the margin back to single digits with his third triple to start the third term as the Breakers got hot from deep, with Gliddon and Vodanovich both grabbing two triples each to cut the deficit to just three at the final break.
Gliddon had another three to take his side's first lead to start the fourth, with Jarrell Brantley following up before Harvey fired back with a long bomb of his own to lock the scores.
When Le'afa dropped a three from the carpark Jacob Jackomas was forced to call timeout to halt a relentless aerial raid.
It had the desired effect with Harvey and Robinson steadying to re-take the lead and close the show.
Download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Sign up for breaking news emails below ...
Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
