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Illawarra Hawks have pulled off a comeback 82-80 NBL win at Wollongong on Friday night, defeating South East Melbourne Phoenix for the first time.
A gutsy Illawarra Hawks have pulled off a come-from-behind 82-80 NBL upset win over an injury-hit South East Melbourne Phoenix in Wollongong.
Justinian Jessup and Tyler Harvey combined to help the hosts reel in a 17-point third quarter deficit as the Hawks snapped a worrying three-game losing run and defeated the Phoenix for the first time.
Top three outfit Phoenix (12-9 record) were overrun in the final term after Boomers star Ryan Broekhoff broke down with a groin injury in the first half.
Jessup dropped an equal season-high 26 points including 5-of-8 from three-point range while Harvey showed no signs of a niggling back complaint to hit 22 points to secure a rare win.
Remarkably Harvey and Jessup combined for 21 of the hosts' 27 final quarter points, outscoring the entire Phoenix team (19).
Illawarra (11-11 record) turned around an unfortunate run of second-half fadeouts to topple their bogey side and notch just their second win in seven games.
"A lot of things weren't going right. We fell 17 points down against a team that has the wood on us," Hawks coach and six-time championship winning mentor Brian Goorjian said.
"I just thought we dug deep. It was really special."
The Hawks snapped a six-game losing streak against the Phoenix who had thumped Illawarra by 32 points the last time they met - also in Wollongong - just eight days earlier.
The star of the show in that last clash was Broekhoff with 26 points.
But the former NBA player had little impact on Friday after hobbling off in the first half with just six points from 10 minutes court time, cutting short his starting debut for the Phoenix.
"Speaking to him he said it was his groin and said he would be alright but he hasn't spoken to the physio," Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell said.
"You have to wait for those things to cool down before we know.
"Hopefully he was just a little tight."
Phoenix led 18-10 at the first break after the Hawks' lowest scoring quarter of the season, 41-30 at halftime and 61-55 at the final interval before the hosts came alive.
For the Phoenix, Kyle Adnam dropped 22 points while Mitch Creek (15 points) and import Keifer Sykes (14 points) had a major impact off the bench.
