Hawks return home, blow away Sixers

It had been a challenging start on the road to NBL27 for the Illawarra Hawks but their first home game at the WIN Entertainment Centre saw them catch fire spectacularly on the way to the 114-92 win over the Adelaide 36ers.

The Hawks started the season with road defeats to the New Zealand Breakers, Brisbane Bullets and Sydney Kings. They were still without newly signed big Makur Maker, along with the injured Todd Blanchfield and Mason Peatling, with a replacement import still to come.

The Sixers were also still missing Flynn Cameron and Isaac Humphries, but the Hawks were all in from the outset, starting 35-21 in the first quarter with a combined 20 points from import pair Milton Doyle and Kelan Martin.

The Hawks' lead grew to as much as 32 points, and only the 36ers' 57 points in the second half cut the final margin back to 22.

It was still a standout all-round performance from Illawarra as they ended up shooting 54 per cent from the field along with 15/31 from the outside along with collecting 16 offensive rebounds to 12.

Martin ended up the star of the night for the Hawks with 28 points, five rebounds and three assists with 5/7 three-point shooting.

It was far from a one-man show, though, with Sam Froling adding 19 points, 13 rebounds and three assists, Davo Hickey 12 points, seven assists and five boards, Milton Doyle 13 points and seven assists, and Tyler Harvey 11 points and seven assists.

The defensive effort from the Hawks was strong too led by Wani Swaka Lo Buluk matched up with six-time MVP Bryce Cotton who had just four shot attempts for the game before ending up playing 30 minutes for 15 points and seven assists with 11/11 free-throw shooting.

He still top scored for his team with John Jenkins III adding 13 points and five rebounds, Deonte Williams 12 points, Keanu Rasmussen 11 points and Zylan Cheatham 11 points to go with three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Hawks might have been fresh off a 21-point loss to Sydney to go 0-3 on the road to start NBL27, but they were a team on a mission in front of their home fans for the first time.

It was a blistering opening quarter from Illawarra with Milton Doyle lighting it up early with a couple of threes on his way to 10 points before Kelan Martin got going too to join him on 10 by quarter-time.

The Hawks were leading 35-21 after the opening 10 minutes with 6/11 three-point shooting while limiting the Sixers to 2/8 along with the only three turnovers of the game.

It was more of the same in the second quarter from the Hawks with another 30 points to 14 with Martin adding another six points to have 16 by half-time with 3/4 three-point shooting.

As a team, they shot 57 per cent from the field and still didn’t have a turnover, with Sam Froling also up to 12 points and six rebounds, and Davo Hickey with 10 points, five assists, and four boards.

It was a horror half for the 36ers, trailing 65-35 with 33 per cent shooting and going 3/21 from the outside, while Bryce Cotton had just eight points and three assists on three shot attempts.

Adelaide might have put up 32 points to 27 in the third quarter and Cotton went 7/7 at the foul line to be up to 15 points and seven assists, but they couldn’t make any inroads with Martin adding another eight points for the Hawks and Froling up to 15 points and 10 rebounds.

From there the Hawks cruised to their first win of the season in a dominant display to end up winning by 22 points.

Both teams back up again on Sunday with the Hawks on the road to the South East Melbourne Phoenix while the 36ers are back home to host DJ Vasiljevic and the New Zealand Breakers.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 114 – ADELAIDE 36ERS 92

Illawarra Hawks
Kelan Martin – 28 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Sam Froling – 19 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists
Milton Doyle – 13 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds
Davo Hickey – 12 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds
Tyler Harvey – 11 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds

Adelaide 36ers
Bryce Cotton – 15 points, 7 assists, 11/11 FT
John Jenkins III – 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
Deonte Williams – 12 points
Zylan Cheatham – 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Keanu Rasmussen – 11 points, 2 rebounds