Bullets make it three in a row against the Hawks

The Brisbane Bullets made it three in a row, with a 103-86 win over the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong on Saturday night. The Bullets had contributors across the board in perhaps their most efficient outing of NBL23.

Celebrating Heritage Round and wearing their red kit, Brisbane continued to build on their strong team performance against Adelaide on Thursday. Against the Hawks, the Bullets offence flowed finishing with 27 assists on their way to 39 made field goals and only 11 turnovers for the game.  

Andrew White III came out firing, helping the Bullets to an early lead with 8 first quarter points on 4/4 field goal attempts to open his personal account. Aron Baynes also made his presence felt inside with a couple of early dunks and the visiting side were able to take a 24-20 lead into quarter time.

The Hawks battled hard in the second period and it became a shootout, with both teams combining for 54 points. However the Bullets were able to hold a slight edge, leading 50-48 at half-time.

Jason Cadee and Tyler Johnson got going in the third and the Bullets continued to push the pace, extending their lead to six by three quarter time.

From that point on it was all Brisbane, finishing strong with a 30-19 final quarter and continuing their good form in the latter part of the NBL23 season.

Tyler Johnson put together another strong performance for the Bullets with 23 points at 58% from the field, four assists and three rebounds. Andrew White impressed with an efficient 18 points at 72% from the field.

Aron Baynes was tough with 15 points and six rebounds, while Harry Froling added energy off the bench with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Following the game, Hostplus Head Coach Greg Vanderjagt was proud of the efforts from his group.

“Really happy to get the three in a row,” Vanderjagt said.

“The group did a good job of treating the game with the respect that it deserves.”

“Offensively the ball did the work tonight. 27 assists on 39 made field goals and only 11 turnovers. The ball was off the floor and in and out of people’s hands and we were at the rim.”

“One of the big focuses for us is making other people better. What can you do for somebody else… Slowly over time we are getting better at that.”

“We’re getting more uncontested looks and it’s off the back of player, ball movement, unselfishness and everybody willing to do something for someone else,” Vanderjagt added.

Andrew White III was a late addition to the Bullets roster and had his best game for the Bullets. He showed his appreciation of the quality of his teammates and people around the Club.

“At the end of the day we are professionals. You have a lot to play for no matter what’s going on,” White III said.

“It shows a lot of character on our team’s part for sticking with it and having some pride.”

“The support and the people behind the scenes that do a lot for us as a team and as an organisation deserve an effort despite the record so that’s something we’ve tried to focus in on.”

“I’ve had a great experience coming here. Obviously we struggled a little bit early on but when you have good people around you, and you have people trying to do it the right way. When you have a community, when you have fans that support you no matter what that goes a long way.”

Next up, the Bullets face the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday 26 January at Nissan Arena.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 16

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 86 (Harvey 22, Deng 13, Grida 13)

BRISBANE BULLETS 103 (Johnson 23, White III 18, Baynes 15) 

BOX SCORE