Star trio fire Hawks to big win

The imposing Illawarra Hawks front court of Sam Froling, Lachlan Olbrich and Darius Days showed ominous signs as the Illawarra Hawks posted a crushing 102-75 victory over the Cairns Taipans at HBF Stadium as HoopsFest continued.

Co-captain Froling was a dominant figure in the first half of Saturday night's match, before newly signed import forward Days added the killer blows as the Hawks started the season in perfect fashion.

That was with young gun Olbrich ensuring Illawarra had a potent three-ponged big man attack as he also contributed a double-double in right on 20 minutes.

The Taipans were only two points behind following a hot start to the third quarter after the Hawks were leading 54-45 at the half, but Illawarra went on a 41-13 run after that to secure the easy victory.

Froling finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Days (20 points, 12 rebounds) was a force with a double-double. Olbrich ended up with 12 points and 11 rebounds as well.

The trio helped the Hawks dominate the boards with 53 to 37 for the game including 17 offensive rebounds for 21 second chance points.

Hawks co-captain Tyler Harvey started his fifth NBL season strongly too with 14 points with Hyunjung Lee contributing 12 points on 3/5 shooting from deep, and new import point guard Trey Kell III nine points, four rebounds and four assists.

Wani Swaka Lo Buluk set the tone defensively too and had eight points and four rebounds.

New Taipans import centre Tanner Groves top-scored with 19 points to go with seven rebounds while Sam Waardenburg added 13 points.

Rob Edwards (17 points) and Pedro Bradshaw (eight points, seven rebounds) had rough shooting nights in their NBL debuts combining to go 6/28 from the field even with Edwards making 4/7 from deep.

Cairns entered the match missing Kyle Adnam (knee), Taran Armstrong (calf) and Jackson Makoi (suspended), leaving them light-on in the guard department and forcing them to call up injury replacement player Tad Dufelmeier.

It was about the two Sams in the first half as Hawks big man Froling and Taipans skipper Waardenburg got to work with 13 points apiece.

Illawarra twice opened up nine-point leads late in the opening quarter, but baskets in the final 40 seconds to Groves and Kyrin Galloway reduced the margin to five points at the first break.

Froling was a strong force in the first quarter, but he was a goliath in the second as the Hawks flexed their muscles.

The 24-year-old scored eight points for the term and pulled down three rebounds as the lead stretched out to 12 points.

A late three-pointer to Galloway got the margin back to nine points at half-time.

The Taipans made a big charge early in the third quarter to reduce the gap to two points, but it was back out to 12 by the final break.

The last quarter was a one-sided affair as the Hawks outscored their opponents 30-15.

Both teams now play their first home games of the season in Round 2 with the Hawks hosting the Brisbane Bullets on Friday before the Snakes are up against the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 102 (Days 20, Froling 19, Harvey 14)

CAIRNS TAIPANS 75 (Groves 19, Edwards 17, Waardenburg 13)

BOX SCORE