Illawarra's NBL Blitz campaign has ended in disappointing fashion, the Hawks surrendering a 19-point lead to go down 84-77 to Adelaide on Thursday night.
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In a game of runs, the Hawks closed the first term with a 15-2 run and went 18-4 late in the second quarter to lead by what appeared an unassailable 15 points at halftime.
The Sixers remarkably erased the deficit in a 27-13 third quarter, trailing by one at the final break and breezing past the Hawks in the fourth to remain undefeated for the tournament.
Robert Franks did the bulk of the damage with 30 points and 10 rebounds, while Craig Randall had 16 points and Daniel Johnson had an understated double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The win came without former Hawk Antonius Cleveland, who kitted up but didn't take the floor.
The Hawks were also without star import Justin Robinson, who was rested with a hip complaint, but fans got their first look at second import George King who showed consistent touches of class in his 20 points and eight rebounds.
Mangok Mathiang had 12 of his 14 points in the first half, with Tyler Harvey's 10 points coming at 3-12 from the field.
While just a preseason clash, surrendering such a hefty lead will be cause of some concern for coach Jacob Jackomas as it soured the end to an otherwise promising preseason campaign.
After Deng Deng opened proceedings with a three an 8-0 run from the Sixers prompted an early timeout from Jackomas that had the desired effect.
Harvey dropped his first three out of the stoppage and a quick four points from Mathiang on a 7-0 run saw Bruton burn a timeout.
It did nothing to halt the Hawks blitz, with Kevin White nailing a three out of the resumption to take the run to double digits.
Mathiang finished with six for the term, with an alley-oop slam to stamping a 15-2 run to close the quarter.
Franks had three from the line and another long bomb early in the second, but a triple from Alex Mudronja and deep two from Harvey saw the margin swell back out to nine.
When Froling laid in a 12-point lead Bruton had seen enough, halting proceedings midway through the quarter.
Mathiang took his tally to 11 with his first three and took his side's scoring run to 18-4 with a couple from the line before Adelaide finally managed consecutive baskets through Randall and Johnson.
Two of three from the line from King closed the half with a 20-9 run, though the Sixers made quick work of denting it in the third, going 7-0 and prompting Jackomas to call timeout.
Another three from Franks extended the run to 12 before Mathiang finally posted the Hawks first points post-halftime, with a follow-up four in transition from King seeing Bruton burn a timeout.
The Sixers remarkably took the lead on a triple and three more from the line from Franks before Tim Coenraad beat the buzzer with his first three to recapture a slender lead at the final break.
It was all Adelaide in the fourth, with Kai Sotto grabbing six early points and Johnson dropping seven of his 15 points down the stretch as the Sixers closed the show.
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