Hawks take charge to win big in Brisbane

The Illawarra Hawks continue to take the best shots from their opposition and assume control with the NBL leaders doing it again on Friday night for the 102-84 road win over the Brisbane Bullets.

The Hawks found themselves down double-figures in the second quarter at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Friday night, and were still down six midway through the third.

From there, they outscored the Bullets 47 points to 23 for the 18-point win to see them remain clear in top spot at 13-5 having won five straight.

The Bullets had won five of last six scoring 111.6 points in those while the Hawks arrived on a four-game winning run scoring 111.2 so that pointed to a high-scoring spectacle which it was on track for early on.

The Hawks scored the game's first eight points before the Bullets responded with 19 of the next 26, and put up 34 points for their best first quarter of the season.

Brisbane pushed their lead to double-figures in the second term, but Tyler Harvey finished the half with eight quick points to see the Hawks cut the Bullets lead to two.

Illawarra regained the lead midway through the third period when Trey Kell III made his first three of the night as part of a 14-0 run.

The Hawks finished the third quarter scoring 27 of the last 34 points to go from six points down to leading by 14 to set up the 18-point win with shooting 49 per cent and getting 32 points from Brisbane's 22 turnovers.

Kell finished with another 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals, Harvey 17 points and four rebounds, Sam Froling 15 points and 12 boards, and Davo Hickey 12 points and four assists.

Hawks coach Justin Tatum did his best to keep his team fresh after their Christmas night win over Sydney.

"I just told the guys to stick with it and that I was going to use all 10 or 11 guys in that first quarter because I wanted to make sure we stayed as fresh as possible for the second half," he said.

"We didn’t want to allow 34 points in the first quarter but I was glad we were able to sustain it and the guys got their rhythm, and groove to be able to finish the game."

The Bullets couldn’t quite continue their winning ways in the absence of James Batemon, Rocco Zikarsky and Deng Adel despite getting another 28 points from Casey Prather.

Brisbane managed just 50 points after quarter-time and 23 over the last 15 minutes with Josh Bannan adding 17 points, Isaac White 10 and Tyrell Harrison nine points with nine rebounds.

Bullets coach Justin Schueller saw the 22 turnovers and just nine assists sticking out in the loss.

"Eight (nine) assists for us isn’t us on the offensive end, and I felt the ball really stuck a lot tonight," he said.

"When we've been at our best it's when everyone's doing their little part, keeping the ball off the deck and execution at a high.

"The 22 turnovers comes when you're not executing and we just need more guys to step up across the board."

Fresh off the win over the Kings in Sydney on Christmas night, the Hawks started on fire in Brisbane on Friday night with the game's first eight points with the Bullets not scoring for almost two and-a-half minutes.

However, once the Bullets did score first through Tyrell Harrison, they worked themselves back on top and went on an 11-0 scoring run that including a triple from captain Mitch Norton and and-one plays to Casey Prather and Harrison.

Another seven straight points soon after and Brisbane was leading by seven, and then eight when Prather hit a three on his way to 11 first quarter points, but the Hawks stayed in touch to hold the Bullets lead to 34-29.

Brisbane were able to push that advantage out to double-figures early in the second frame but it was Tyler Harvey shooting the Hawks back into the contest including two triples just before half-time.

He ended up with his team's last eight points for 14 first half points while Prather put up 17 for the Bullets with the home team leading 50-48 with Brisbane scoring 13 points from Illawarra's eight turnovers, and the Hawks 14 from the Bullets' nine.

The Bullets remained in control of the contest leading by six midway through the third quarter, but the game turned the Hawks favour in stunning fashion from there including them scoring 14 consecutive points including a three ball from Trey Kell III and and-one from Davo Hickey.

Illawarra closed the quarter with another 10-3 run as well to suddenly be leading by 14 by three quarter-time and there would be no coming back for the Bullets from there.

The Bullets have the quick turnaround to face the on-fire Tasmania JackJumpers in Hobart on Sunday while the Hawks will host the South East Melbourne Phoenix on New Year's Eve in a cracking contest having lost to them last time they met.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

BRISBANE BULLETS 84 (Prather 28, Bannan 17, White 10)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 102 (Kell III 18, Harvey 17, Froling 15)

BOX SCORE