Bullets fall to Hawks in Illawarra

The Brisbane Bullets leave Wollongong frustrated after being in a winning position before the Illawarra Hawks took charge in the last quarter for the eventual 89-76 victory.

It was a crucial game for both teams with the winner to end the evening in fourth position on the NBL table and it was a tight affair for the most part as they jostled for the advantage.

The Bullets were able to work on top with a dominant third quarter where they outscored the Hawks 22 points to 12, and the visitors at WIN Entertainment Centre were still leading by four with just over eight minutes to play.

However, from that point on the Hawks outscored the Bullets 23 points to six to end up winning by 13 to take fourth spot and leave Brisbane clinging to a place in the top six at 12-14 with just two games to go.

It was a tough night for the Bullets in the end finishing off shooting just 38 per cent from the field including 4/22 from three-point range. Free-throws were a frustration too making just 18/28 while sending the Hawks to the line 30 times where they made 26.

Josh Bannan finished with 11 points and eight rebounds on his return to the line-up for Brisbane with captain Nathan Sobey contributing 11 points and six boards, and Sam McDaniel 11 points and five rebounds.

Tyrell Harrison battled hard once more for 10 points and eight rebounds with Casey Prather contributing nine points and two steals, Aron Baynes eight points and four rebounds, and Isaac White six points and two assists.

Rocco Zikarsky also had five points, Mitch Norton three points, three rebounds and two assists, and Shannon Scott two points.

Gary Clark led the charge for the Hawks with 19 points and 10 rebounds with Justin Robinson adding 16 points and five assists, and Sam Froling 12 points and seven boards.

Brisbane opened the game with a three-pointer from Sam McDaniel before he and Shannon Scott combined to give the Bullets the 7-2 lead in an impressive start on the road.

The Hawks would score 12 of the next 15 points but the Bullets hit back again with Casey Prather and Aron Baynes adding some scoring punch off the bench, but the Hawks went into quarter-time leading 22-18.

The Hawks were then able to score the first five points of the second quarter to lead by nine before the Next Stars for both teams took over for a couple of minutes.

AJ Johnson produced a huge dunk for the Hawks, but Rocco Zikarsky responded for the Bullets with a dunk of his own including five quick points to keep his team within touch.

Mitch Norton and Prather also hit threes heading towards half-time and by the break the Bullets were within striking distance with Illawarra leading 50-44 with the teams going into the break shooting 62 and 54 per cent from the floor respectively.

It was the Bullets' turn to grab the momentum in the third quarter and midway through the period they would go on a 15-3 scoring run that included seven points to Nathan Sobey including a triple, a three-point play from Isaac White and a bucket from Josh Bannan.

That saw Brisbane lead by five and the advantage was still 66-62 by three quarter-time and the Bullets were still up four early in the fourth quarter when McDaniel scored.

That was with just over eight minutes to play, but from there the Hawks controlled the contest and the Bullets only managed to score six more points with the home team piling on 23 includingthe last 11 in-a-row to win by 13.

The Bullets now have two games of the NBL season remaining over the last two rounds. First up is next Friday night in the final home game at Nissan Arena up against the Adelaide 36ers.

Brisbane will then finish the regular season on the road to the New Zealand Breakers on Friday February 16.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 18

BRISBANE BULLETS 76 (McDaniel 11, Sobey 11, Bannan 11)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 89 (Clark 19, Robinson 16, Froling 12)

BOX SCORE