Home dominant Sixers overpower Hawks

The energy and enthusiasm the Adelaide 36ers gain inside Adelaide Entertainment Centre was again on show as they hit back from conceding the first 10 points to the Illawarra Hawks before scoring the 93-79 Sunday victory.

The Sixers finished NBL24 with plenty of momentum and that was on the back of winning their last five matches at home, and that has continued into NBL25.

The 36ers were back at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday greeted by another jam packed crowd of 9423 as they attempted to bounce back from a 27-point road loss to New Zealand last Saturday.

Illawarra had also nine days to think about a disappointing loss to the shorthanded Perth last Friday, and it was the Hawks who started hot on the road with the first 10 points.

However, the Sixers had managed to turn that into a four-point lead by quarter-time and they never looked back to end up scoring the 14-point victory to make it 10 in-a-row at home and to improve to 6-4 in NBL25.

Even though the 36ers didn’t shoot well from the charity stripe going 20/30, the fact they had 30 free-throw attempts to just nine from the Hawks was a significant factor especially considering Adelaide also attempted 27 three-pointers to 26 from Illawarra.

The big guns from the Sixers fired too with DJ Vasiljevic putting up 23 points, six rebounds and four assists on 4/7 long-range shooting with Montrezl Harrell adding 25 points, seven boards and three assists.

Kendric Davis produced 16 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds with Sunday Dech finishing with nine points and five boards, and Isaac Humphries eight points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

The Sixers enjoyed a 23-4 advantage in fast-break points, and coach Mike Wells was thrilled with his team's defensive intensity, which set up their offence.

"Once we get set and we get into the game, then we become a pretty good team," Wells said.

"Today, like most of our big wins, you start that on the defensive end, and our attention to detail was better.

"We want discipline and disruption, we want to know exactly what everybody's doing, we don't want to make it up.

"We need guys connected and we did that today on the defensive end, which allowed us to run out and run back at them."

The Hawks are now 6-4 on the season too having lost three of the past four with Trey Kell III returning with 18 points and three assists.

Sam Froling added 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 7/11 shooting with Tyler Harvey having a tough shooting night at 4/13 for 11 points.

Hawks coach Justin Tatum lamented his team's inability to maintain early momentum, and didn't lay blame on the lopsided free-throw count.

"I guess they just turned it up a little bit and they matched our intensity and then they overcame it," Tatum said.

"The free-throws did not help, but Adelaide came out and played well.

"I guess they did a really good job of drawing fouls and getting us out of defensive position, then being able to dictate the tempo of the game.

"Thirty free-throws is a lot, but I guess they were well-deserved."

Both teams were coming off disappointing losses and had a long time to think about them, and it was the visiting Hawks shooting out of the gate with the game's first 10 points.

It started with a dunk to Sam Froling and then included three-pointers to Tyler Harvey and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, and then even after Montrezl Harrell scored for Adelaide, Trey Kell III hit another from deep to put the Hawks up 13-2.

Darius Days also hit from downtown to make it 16-4, but from there the 36ers worked back into the contest and on the back of 12 free-throw attempts to nil, ended up leading 24-22 after one.

Even with Harvey opening the second quarter with another three ball for Illawarra, the Sixers were able to build on that advantage with captain DJ Vasiljevic landing a pair of three-pointers on his way to 15 points for the first half.

An offensive rebound and put back from Jarrell Martin on the buzzer helped Adelaide to the 50-41 half-time lead on the back of taking a monstrous 21 free-throws to just three from the Hawks in the first 20 minutes.

The Sixers maintained control throughout the third quarter too to be leading still by nine at three quarter-time but the Hawks opened up with the first six points of the final term and the margin was just three on a bucket to Mason Peatling.

Adelaide responded with a three ball to Sunday Dech before another big dunk from Harrell and before long the 36ers were back out to a 10-point lead, and they were able to close it out from there to win by 14.

The 36ers now have just the one more game before the FIBA window next Sunday away to Melbourne United while the Hawks will be back home to the Sydney Kings on Saturday night.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

ADELAIDE 36ERS 93 (Harrell 25, Vasiljevic 23, Davis 16)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 79 (Kell III 18, Froling 16, Harvey 11)

BOX SCORE