Harvey shoots Hawks over Phoenix

Tyler Harvey ensured the Illawarra Hawks remain on top of the NBL bouncing back from a dramatic Thursday night loss to beat the South East Melbourne Phoenix 88-82 on Saturday.

In the absence of his back court partner Trey Kell III, Harvey was brilliant for the Hawks with 22 points on 6/8 three-point shooting as they overcame a 10-point second quarter deficit to win by six and maintain top spot.

The Hawks went down to Melbourne United at home in emotional fashion on Thursday with coach Justin Tatum unleashing his full fury in the post-match press conference.

They then arrived at John Cain Arena without point guard Kell with a bank complaint and coming up against a rejuvenated Phoenix line-up under interim coach Sam Mackinnon.

After losing their first five games under Mike Kelly, the Phoenix were back home having won two straight with Mackinnon as coach as he took charge for the last time ahead of American Josh King assume the responsibilities.

The Phoenix started impressively too and were leading by as much as 10 points thanks to a three ball from Nathan Sobey (14 points, five turnovers) four minutes into the second quarter.

Tatum called a timeout and his team responded with the next 14 points, and then maintained that edge throughout the majority of the second half.

South East Melbourne did keep on coming, but Illawarra had an answer every time to improve to a 6-2 record to maintain top position.

On top of what Harvey did for the Hawks, Darius Days was a strong running mate with 16 points and seven rebounds on 5/7 shooting with Wani Swaka Lo Buluk tremendous again with 13 points on top of his defence on Sobey.

Sam Froling did good work down low for 11 points and seven assists with Davo Hickey earning the start and having eight points, six rebounds, six assists, and two steals.

Tatum was pleased with his team's response during the second quarter.

"What changed for us was us understanding that we didn’t want to let one get away from us again," he said.

"The lack of our momentum in the first quarter was slow but then guys got after each other and challenged each other on the bench to pick up their tempo.

"They came and did it so once we got that second quarter going with 17 points in a five-minute span, that's the Hawks team we normally are accustomed to being."

The Phoenix might have lost, but three games in the last six days have been a definite step forward with Joe Wieskamp having his best NBL performance with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Matt Hurt put up another 18 points with nine rebounds with Next Star Malique Lewis contributing 12 points, six boards and three assists.

Mackinnon liked his team's start but it was tough work once they were playing catch up in the second half.

"I thought we got the break early because we were getting to the rim but then started shooting too many threes and lost our way a little bit," he said.

"The energy went out of the room and we did recover in the second half, but were just playing a bit of catch up."

Coming off winning the last two games and with the Hawks having had a gruelling battle with Melbourne on Thursday and losing Trey Kell III in the process, it was the Phoenix who had the better of the start.

A triple from Matt Hurt and then two straight buckets to Joe Wieskamp helped the home team to a 12-7 lead and they were still on top 19-15 after one thanks to a second three ball already from the league's leading scorer, Hurt.

Wieskamp and Matt Kenyon hit early threes to open the second term and then the South East Melbourne advantage was out to double-figures when Nathan Sobey landed one from deep too with six minutes left in the half.

Justin Tatum needed a timeout and he got the exact response he was hoping for with the Hawks going on to score the next 14 points in the space of three minutes.

They kept that momentum into half-time with the 45-39 lead with Darius Days and Tyler Harvey combining for 20 points and four threes.

The Phoenix turned the tide back their way early in the second half with seven quick points from Wieskamp in his best NBL performance helping them back within three, but then Harvey took charge like only he can.

The Hawks superstar guard hit three more long balls to close the third quarter to put Illawarra on top 74-65 by three quarter-time, and while the Phoenix kept on coming and even got back within two late, Illawarra had the answers to win by six.

The Phoenix will now play a first game with Josh King as coach this Friday night away to the Tasmania JackJumpers while the Hawks head to Perth to play the Wildcats later that same evening.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 82 (Hurt 18, Wieskamp 16, Sobey 14)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 88 (Harvey 22, Days 16, Swaka Lo Buluk 13)

BOX SCORE