Hawks survive with win for the ages

The Illawarra Hawks were without one superstar, lost another in the first half and dug deep to lock down defensively with others stepping up to beat Melbourne United 80-71 in Game 4 to force the NBL championship decider.

Both teams came into Game 4 at a sold out John Cain Arena on Wednesday night without their starting point guard, Shea Ili (concussion symptoms) and Trey Kell III (knee), and then the Hawks took what could have been a fatal blow.

Their All-NBL Team co-captain Sam Froling went down injured in the second quarter and it appears he has ruptured his achilles. Still the Hawks continued the run of road teams winning in this Championship Series.

It wasn’t heroics from Tyler Harvey that got the Hawks over the line either in the absence of Kell and Froling, but rather Davo Hickey and Lachlan Olbrich that proved the game breakers.

It was a physical and defensive grind all evening with the Hawks up 15-13 after one before Melbourne went into the half on top 32-28.

Illawarra began to find some momentum in the third quarter with 23 points and then continued that in the fourth when they turned a one-point lead into a match-winning 12-point edge thanks to a clinching 13-2 run.

Hickey and Olbrich started it before killer blows from Darius Days (nine points, 11 rebounds) and Tyler Harvey (12 points, 4/15 shooting) with the Hawks securing a win for the ages without two of their superstars and away from home to force Game 5 back in Wollongong on Wednesday.

It was a brilliant defensive Hawks performance as they held Melbourne to 71 points on 36 per cent shooting and 7/26 from downtown with the job on Chris Goulding (17 points, 5/16) and Ian Clark (16, 6/17) especially impressive.

It was a career-best night for Hickey with 22 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.

Olbrich stepped up huge after Froling went down to finish with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Matthew Dellavedova fought valiantly once more for Melbourne with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists but nobody other than Clark and Goulding scored in double-figures who combined to shoot 11/33 from the field and 4/14 from downtown.

It was slow going for both teams early with Davo Hickey scoring first before he had his shot blocked by Jack White who opened Melbourne's scoring.

The Hawks then went inside to Sam Froling for five quick points and he also forced the offensive rebound for Hickey to land a triple to give the regular season champs the 10-2 lead.

Hyunjung Lee hit a three to give Illawarra the 15-5 lead but Matthew Dellavedova then scored five points as part of a 7-0 United run to cut the Hawks lead to 15-12 by quarter-time.

It was Melbourne's lowest scoring quarter of the season and they shot just 26 per cent with neither Chris Goulding nor Ian Clark scoring. The Hawks only managed the 15 points themselves on 35 per cent shooting with Tyler Harvey scoreless.

Dellavedova opened the second frame with a three ball and then Clark opened his scoring to put the home team in front.

The United lead would get out to as much as five points, but still struggled to score which helped the Hawks stay in touch despite just the 28 points on 26 per cent shooting in the half and with Froling appearing to rupturing an achilles in the process.

Goulding and Clark had just five points to the half on 2/11 shooting but the two Hawks imports Harvey and Darius Days only combined for four points on 1/11 shooting in contrast.

The teams combined to shoot 23/73 in the half and 5/26 from deep but it was just a four-point lead for Melbourne which quickly evaporated to start the second half.

Days opened his account with a pair of free-throws, Hickey hit a three and then Harvey also scored to give Illawarra the first seven points to grab the lead before Goulding made his first field goal to steady United.

Goulding also knocked down a couple of three-pointers, but the Hawks were feeling better and it was Lachlan Olbrich and Hickey key to their 23 points for the quarter to lead 51-48 by three quarter-time.

It continued to be Olbrich and Hickey in the absence of Froling and Kell to keep the Hawks on top including out to a seven-point lead on the back of a 6-0 run with 3:45 remaining.

Days then made his first shot of the night with a three with 2:30 to go to push the Hawks lead to eight and from there they closed it out against the odds without Kell and Froling to force a Game 5.

That Game 5 will be back at Wollongong's WIN Entertainment Centre on Sunday afternoon with the NBL25 championship to be decided.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2025 – GAME 4

MELBOURNE UNITED 71 (Dellavedova 17, Goulding 17, Clark 16)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 80 (Hickey 22, Olbrich 13, Harvey 12)

Best-of-5 series is tied 2-2

BOX SCORE