Foxwell, Hunter lift Phoenix over Hawks

The point guard-centre combination of Owen Foxwell and Jordan Hunter delivered the South East Melbourne Phoenix the impressive 103-100 home victory against the Illawarra Hawks in a high-tempo NBL encounter.

The Phoenix were playing their first game since the FIBA international break while the Hawks had returned to action on Thursday night and delivered a 38-point hammering at home against the New Zealand Breakers.

Illawarra kept that momentum going inside John Cain Arena racing to a 13-2 start but South East Melbourne responded with the next 15 points. The rest of the way the momentum, and lead, continued to fluctuate.

In the end, the difference between the two teams was the performance of Hunter and Foxwell for the Phoenix as their big man and point guard.

The pair combined for 45 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists on 17/28 shooting from the field, 6/9 from three-point range and 5/5 at the free-throw line.

It was still a thrilling finish and with the Phoenix up three with 2.7 seconds to go, the Hawks had one last chance out of a timeout. Trey Kell III's three ball never looked likely and the home team held on to improve to 6-8 and 4-2 under Josh King.

Hunter was tremendous with 23 points and six rebounds while Foxwell had the best performance of his 58-game NBL career with 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds with 4/6 three-point shooting.

He needed to as well with superstar guards Nathan Sobey (12 points, 5/15 shooting) and Derrick Walton Jr (zero points, 0/4 shooting in eight minutes) both struggling.

Matt Hurt and Joe Wieskamp both also scored 13 points for South East Melbourne as did Angus Glover to go with five assists.

"I didn't think we had good energy early, so we made some subs to see if somebody could come off the bench and give us a spark," coach King said.

"Foxy really changed the energy of the game. He came off the bench and gave us a huge lift."

The Hawks are now 8-5 having split their two games this weekend inside 48 hours with Tyler Harvey again top-scoring with 19 points and five assists.

Kell added 14 points, five rebounds and three assists, Sam Froling 14 points and six rebounds, and Darius Days 18 points and nine boards on 3/5 three-point shooting again coming off the bench.

"South East did a good job of being physical and coming back after being in a hole," Hawks coach Justin Tatum said.

"We were coming off playing on Thursday and I could see a bit of fatigue in some of our guys.

"I felt they wanted it more and they found a way to pull it out."

It was a game of runs right throughout the first half with the Phoenix not scoring for more than three minutes and the Hawks racing to a 13-2 lead with the last eight of those all courtesy of Trey Kell III.

That forced Josh King into an early timeout and the Phoenix coach got the immediate response with the home team scoring the next 15 points themselves in a stunning turnaround as they grabbed the lead.

Illawarra hit back once more with 18 of the last 24 points of the opening quarter and that saw them go into the quarter-time break leading 31-21.

It was a similar story throughout the second quarter with the Hawks starting off scoring the first five points to be out to a 15-point advantage but just minutes later by the time Matt Hurt hit a three for the Phoenix and it was back to a six-point ball game.

The teams continued to trade baskets the rest of the half and by the break it was Illawarra leading 59-52 while shooting 50 per cent from the field and 13/16 at the foul line with the Phoenix shooting at 42 per cent and taking just six foul shots.

It was South East Melbourne's turn to start the better to open the second half with nine of the first 11 points to bring scores level and then a third triple of the game from Hurt put the home team in front.

The Phoenix pushed that advantage out to seven points midway through the fourth quarter with Owen Foxwell instrumental in everything they were doing, but the Hawks kept within striking distance to set up a big finish.

Tyler Harvey brought Illawarra back level with a tough bucket with 3:23 to go but Jordan Hunter and Foxwell again combined to put South East Melbourne back up four, and from there they would win by three.

The Hawks now head to Perth take on the Wildcats on Friday night while the Phoenix remain at home to play host to the Cairns Taipans next Saturday night.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 103 (Hunter 23, Foxwell 22, Glover 13, Hurt 13, Wieskamp 13)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 100 (Harvey 19, Days 18, Kell III 14, Froling 14)

BOX SCORE