Hot Shooting JackJumpers Stun Hawks

Underestimate the Tasmania JackJumpers at your peril.

The Illawarra Hawks were handed a hammer blow to their top-four chances and a lesson in playing with passion on Sunday as the JackJumpers made history with their three-point shooting in a 96-86 win at WIN Entertainment Centre.

On paper, the star-studded Hawks spearheaded by their Australian Boomers coach should have made light work of the new kids on the block. But NBL basketball is often about intangibles, not statistics. 

Nobody told the JackJumpers were underdogs and they launched into this match with all the confidence of a championship contender, even with star centre Will Magnay sidelined with a knee complaint.

There was no real history to go by with these two teams, the last time a Tasmanian team played Illawarra, it was the then Devils beating the Hawks in 1996. But most NBL analysts had the Hawks finishing near the apex of the ladder and the JackJumpers closer to the basement. 

However, the JackJumpers have built their season on pride in the jersey and passion for the game, which they were rewarded for with four straight wins before a narrow loss against the Phoenix. 

While the Hawks came into this match with consecutive wins, neither were convincing. And they got ambushed with a remarkable JackJumpers shooting display.

Tasmania just kept finding a way to draw water from a bottomless fountain of belief and rained a record-equalling 22 three-pointers like hellfire on the Hawks. The 22 made threes, from 42 attempts, is the equal most made by a team in the 40-minute NBL era.

Fans in the Sandpit kept hoping the barrage would eventually ease off, but it was relentless. A classic case of David versus Goliath.

It wasn’t just the shooting either. Even without Magnay, the JackJumpers won the rebound count 45-40.

It got scary for Tasmania in the dying minutes as the Hawks closed a 14-point gap to just six after an Antonius Cleveland dunk. But Josh Adams had ice in his veins to launch yet another triple to hold off the Illawarra resistance.

Sam McDaniel's shooting outburst of 20 points, including 4/4 from long range, in the second quarter laid the platform for the win. 

Adams was clutch with 28 points, four rebounds and four assists while Josh Magette (14 points, three rebounds, four assists) and Jack McVeigh (12 points, seven rebounds) were important contributors.

Adams went 8/11 in a remarkable individual three-point shooting performance with Magette hitting 4/8 and McVeigh 2/7, but he set the tone with the first two of the night.

JackJumpers coach Scott Roth was not interested in entertaining the NBL ladder or records that had been broken. It remains a game-by-game prospective for his side.

"We have never talked about the ladder, where we are, who we ahead of, other than the next game. That is our mindset," he said.

"It is about building culture in this first year, getting the right guys to represent the state of Tasmania the right way, put a product on the floor that we can be proud of. We will see what happens when all is said and done. We will have a swing at everyone and play as hard as we possibly can."

Tasmania did well limiting Tyler Harvey to just 11 points for the Hawks but Duop Reath (25 points, eight rebounds) and Antonius Cleveland (20 points, five rebounds) were getting it done in the paint. 

Hawks coach Brian Goorjian felt the combination of the intensity the JackJumpers play at for 40 minutes, and then making so many three-point shots was too much for them on the night.

"Everything we did tonight, they just penalised us with the three ball. It felt like we were playing the Phoenix Suns out there, it was very, very hard to deal with," Goorjian said.

"Those two (Adams and McDaniel) just stretched the floor to a ridiculous situation. When we were chasing that spread, that plays right into their hands. They are the best team at moving the ball, spreading the floor. It breaks your heart, but no apologies here. 

"I am disappointed, I know the team is disappointed, but that is hard to beat. We are in a deep dark box right now. But I like our guys, I like the way we compete and I do think we can fight, bounce back and continue to get better."

The JackJumpers launched a flurry of early shots that were off target, but their small-ball approach allowed Reath to easily carve his way through traffic as the Hawks put the first five points of the match. 

Goorjian kept the officials honest with two coaches' challenges in the space of just seconds - both successful. 

The Hawks were starting to pull away but the JackJumpers refused to give up on their long-range assault. It finally paid off with Magette and captain Clint Steindl burying triples to keep their side within striking distance.

Tasmania was lifting their game on the glass as well, with five offensive boards and by quarter-time they only trailed 22-20. If it was a shower of three-pointers to end the first quarter, it turned into a cyclone in the second. 

By the time the eye of the storm centred over WIN Entertainment Centre, the JackJumpers held a 46-43 half-time advantage.

The JackJumpers were determined to live or die by the three-point sword and it paid dividends, opening up a 63-49 lead midway through the third term. 

Justinian Jessup had a chance to cut the lead to single digits with the final play of the quarter, but it rimmed out and the JackJumpers led 73-63 with one quarter to play.

The Hawks needed to fight back through defence and they managed to dry up the shots in the final five minutes, allowing Cleveland a chance to ram home a dunk and cut the margin to just six points. But Adams slammed the door shut on the comeback to seal an important win for his side.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 12

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 86 (Reath 25, Cleveland 20, Rathan-Mayes 12)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 96 (Adams 28, McDaniel 20, Magette 16) 

BOX SCORE