Hawks storm back to beat Wildcats

Jaquori McLaughlin helped lead the Illawarra Hawks to a stirring comeback win at the CODE Sports NBL Blitz as part of his trial run as they overcame a 15-point deficit to beat the Perth Wildcats 100-92 in Canberra.

Both teams were playing their second, and last games, at the AIS Arena this week for the Blitz and it would prove to be the most glaring example of a game of two halves.

Even without the services of Kristian Doolittle, Sunday Dech, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and their new import point guard, the Wildcats produced a scorching first half performance against the defending champions.

The 'Cats put up 34 points to 26 in the first quarter before adding 28 to 22 in the second to be leading 62-48 by half-time with Dylan Windler already having 19 points to his name with three-pointers as the lone import out there for Perth.

It was a complete flip around in the second half with Illawarra managing 34 points to 21 in the third quarter, and 18 to nine in the fourth to turn that 14-point half-time deficit into the eight-point victory.

There were plenty of contributors to that second half turnaround for Illawarra who are still awaiting the arrival of three-time NBA champion JaVale McGee, but none more so than Jaquori McLaughlin.

He is on trial for the Hawks' import point guard spot and he delivered 24 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals with 9/17 shooting from the floor and 4/12 from downtown.

Tyler Harvey also produced 22 points with 5/9 from three before sitting out most of the fourth term while Mason Peatling hit 4/8 from deep for 21 points to go with six rebounds and three steals.

Todd Blanchfield added 14 points with 4/7 from three-point territory while Jonah Bolden had 10 points and seven rebounds, and Davo Hickey seven points, five boards, four assists and two blocked shots.

Windler ended the game with 27 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for the Wildcats with David Okwera contributing 12 points, three boards and two blocks, Elijah Pepper 11 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Dontae Russo-Nance nine points, eight boards and five assists.

It's the last game at the Blitz for both teams with the Wildcats having games against Japan's Sunrockers Shibuya and Ryukyu Golden Kings at the Perth High Performance Centre ahead of the opening to NBL26.

The Hawks will be taking part in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup from September 18-21 in Singapore also before beginning their NBL26 campaign.

CODE SPORTS NBL BLITZ 2025/26

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 100 (McLaughlin 24, Harvey 22, Peatling 21)

PERTH WILDCATS 92 (Windler 27, Okwera 12, Pepper 11)

BOX SCORE