Illawarra sit stranded on a franchise-low three wins for the season with just one game remaining after surrendering a 16-point halftime lead to go down 91-81 to New Zealand on Thursday.
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The Hawks produced one of their best halves of the season to lead 50-34 at the half before a diabolical 29-9 third term saw them trail by four by three-quarter-time.
Skipper Tyler Harvey had nine of his 22 points in the final term to give his side half a sniff but it was all one-way traffic from the inbound of the third period.
It leaves Jacob Jackomas' outfit 3-24 with one game to play, one win short of the 1983 Hawks four wins from 22 games and two adrift of the 2020 Hawks that finished 5-23.
After what was an awful opening half for the finals-bound visitors, classy cameos from Jarell Brantley and Barry Brown Jr proved the difference, the former dropping 12 of his 20 points in the third term and the latter grabbing 15 of his 22 in the final quarter.
Tom Abercrombie (11) was the only other Breaker in double figures, while Harvey led the hosts with 22 points and co-captain Sam Froling chipped in with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Lachlan Dent had eight of his 11 points in a second-quarter explosion to ignite a sluggish term but Jackomas struggled to find other contributors.
After a trying year, the rookie coach also struggled to hold his tongue on a lopsided foul-count that saw the visitors make 30 trips to the line to the Hawks' 13.
In the all-important third term, the Breakers were called for their first foul with 1.32 left in the quarter, with Jackomas bemoaning the discrepancy post-game.
"We couldn't get a foul call," Jackomas said.
"I want to make that point clear, it's ridiculous. It's been ridiculous all year. It is what it is though, it's what happens when you've got young talent.
"No way am I going to sit here and say that [is the] reason [we lost], but when you're playing with what we're playing with right now, and what we're dealing with right now, we need luck, and the whistle seems to be a luck thing right now.
"I've never made an excuse sitting here with you [media] ever. We got a bit stagnant there, which is our fault, it's no one else's doing, but with what we're rolling out right now, and what we're trying to do... we just needed a little bit of luck to go our way in the third.
"You can blame the players and blame the coaching as well, but at this stage there was a time there where we needed a call."
With the JackJumpers Wollongong-bound for the Hawks final outing of the season on Saturday, Jackomas' side has one more opportunity to finish the season on a high.
Will McDowell-White opened proceedings with a personal 5-0 run, including a triple, as the visitors went out to a 7-2 lead.
Harvey had four on a 6-2 run that gave the Hawks their first lead before Pardon and Froling traded and-ones before Brantley had two triples for a four-point cushion.
Harvey took his tally to seven with an and-one to draw back within a point and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk's first three saw then hosts go ahead by two.
It was part of a 9-3 run that gave the Hawks a six-point buffer, with Alex Mudronja's buzzer-beater giving the Hawks a nine-point lead at quarter-time.
Froling had seven points, including an and-one, to start the second as the lead ballooned to 14 and forced Mody Maor into an early timeout.
It was ultimately Dent who ignited had eight points on a 12-4 run, his second three coming on the buzzer for a 16-point halftime lead.
Brantley and Harvey traded threes early, but Brantley went on with things with three more triples as McDowell-White got in on the long-range act on a 20-7 run that drew the visitors back within three.
It saw Jackomas halt proceedings, though it did little to stem the bleeding, the Breakers closing the term 6-2 from there to lead 63-59 at the final break.
Brown Jr had six points as the visitors maintained a four-point lead before a fired up Harvey dropped nine points to get the Hawks back within one.
It gave the Hawks a sniff but Brown Jr closed the show to see off the last of the resistance.
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
