Hawks Fire Back with Crucial Win in Cairns

The fire was lit underneath the Illawarra Hawks after three home losses the past fortnight and Tyler Harvey and Justinian Jessup led their charge in the 94-75 Saturday night win to spoil the Cairns Taipans' homecoming.

There are few gyms in the country that legendary coach Brian Goorjian doesn’t know like the back of his hand, but this was remarkably his first game at Cairns Convention Centre since February 2009. 

Then with the South Dragons, he used a victory over the Taipans to springboard to championship. 

Now with Illawarra, he saw his team secure a nine-point win to further establish themselves in the NBL’s top four in what was the first home game for Cairns since New Year's Eve.

The Hawks had been stung with two home losses to the Perth Wildcats and another to Melbourne United since returning from a 24-day break, so coming to Cairns they had no choice but to rebound.

Things got off on the right foot early, with Illawarra’s first-quarter score of 23 points being the most the Taipans have conceded in an opening quarter this season. But turnovers have proven the Taipans’ Achilles' heel and that continued to be the case here, with six in the first quarter. 

It didn’t help that Taipans revelation Tahjere McCall racked up three fouls with nearly seven minutes left in the second quarter. Despite that, McCall managed 11 points in the first half. 

On his way to a team-high 19 points, McCall came off the bench as if out of a cannon in the third quarter, rocketing toward the basket with six quick-fire points.

He was assisted by some spark from Keanu Pinder off the bench, as the Arizona Wildcats product provided 15 points and 10 rebounds. It was Pinder’s second career double-double, both coming against the Hawks. 

Sam Froling was a force as well for the Hawks bringing in five offensive rebounds in the first half alone on his way to 11 points and 12 rebounds. His presence along with Duop Reath (15 points) helped keep Stephen Zimmerman and Nate Jawai to no influence for Cairns.

The big men pair for the Snakes combined to play less than 18 minutes for four points and two rebounds.

It took Hawks import Tyler Harvey a little longer to make an impact on this game, but once his shots started to drop they did so in abundance. 

He helped himself to a game-high 24 points, and hit a dagger three on the stroke of three quarter-time that gifted the Hawks a nine-point lead (68-59). Harvey made 4/8 from three-point range, and was 8/15 overall. 

His partner-in-crime Justinian Jessup paired his own lethal shooting with a surprising contribution on the boards. His 17 points came on 6/7 shooting with 10 rebounds. 

Hawks coach Brian Goorjian knows the importance of the win.

"Really, really important after losing two in a row or three out of four at home, which really puts you behind the eight ball. Now you’re trying to stay in contention with the four, you have to win somewhere. This team presents a lot of difficulties, including athleticism," Goorjian said.

"We moved the ball better, we rebounded better. Not only did we win, I thought we played well. I thought as the game went on we started to work it out and get good shots with ball movement and I thought that was the most difficult thing. 

"Us getting those shots with their pressure. We tightened that up, they had 40 at half-time and we held them to 74. We tightened up the D and we got good shots against their pressure, which is not easy to do."

The Taipans continued to fight, though, in front of their home fans, and managed to all but reel the Hawks in just as the game threatened to get away. What broke the Taipans’ back appeared to be a fifth foul to McCall, who exited the game with over five minutes to go. 

Antonius Cleveland punctuated a strong display for the Hawks with a dunk of the year contender soon after over Pinder. He had 15 points and two rebounds, and was electric at times.

The Hawks scored the final nine points to roll to a 94-75 win. Although it was a long time between drinks for Goorjian at Cairns Convention Centre, it must have been a familiar feeling. 

This victory handed the six-time NBL championship-winning coach his 15th victory in 19 matches at the North Queensland venue. More importantly, the Hawks now have their mojo back. 

Meanwhile, Taipans coach Adam Forde isn’t happy with the way his team has come out of a 25-day enforced break.

"We have regressed. Things start to creep in after you lose. You test the character right and this is where you see what your worth is and now you lose again at home," Forde said.

"It’s nothing to do with the personnel, we’re not a team of plumbers and nutritionists. We need to know what it takes to win now. The things that we need to address isn’t anything to do with who is in or out of the team. 

"I know we can get there, I’m just disappointed compared to where I thought we would be at. This is by no means putting the cue in the rack, we are six games into a very long season. But if we were to chart where we were, we’re not where we should be. We have to be real with ourselves."

The Hawks will be back in action on Wednesday night against the New Zealand Breakers in Hobart while the Taipans will take on the Bullets in Brisbane in a week's time.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 9

CAIRNS TAIPANS 75 (McCall 19, Pinder 15, Ngatai 12)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 94 (Harvey 24, Jessup 17, Reath 15, Cleveland 15)

BOX SCORE