The Wollongong ahm Hawks have gone down by 10 to the Melbourne Tigers 105-95 in Traralgon, outside of Melbourne on Friday night.

After flying into Melbourne the morning of the game and a 2.5 hour drive to Traralgon, the Hawks were down by nine heading into the fourth quarter. An 8-0 run saw the Hawks close the gap to one but the Tigers finished strong to seal the win.

Head Coach Gordie McLeod didn’t make the trip to Traralgon deciding to stay in the city due to his recovery from Achilles surgery.  McLeod will be there to guide the team in their second Melbourne pre-season game against the Tigers in Kilsyth on Sunday afternoon.

American import Gary Ervin had a brilliant debut for the Hawks, finishing with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals. Ervin played extended minutes due to Mat Campbell only playing three minutes (precaution due to injury) and Rhys Martin who did not travel due to the ankle injury.

“Gary did real well. He’s quick on the court and had an impressive debut as a Hawk,” said Assistant Coach Eric Cooks.

“We didn’t get the win, but this was a good hit out for us and was great to see Gary be aggressive in his first game.”

“Tigers are a strong team but we feel like we can take some good things from this game and work on them as we lead into the start of the season.” Cooks added.

Gary Ervin was well supported by Larry Davidson (21 points, six rebounds) and Tim Coenraad with 19 points.

For the Tigers, former Hawk Cameron Tragardh finished with 21 points including seven rebounds, while big man Luke Nevill finished with 17 alongside import Eric Devendorf with 17 also.

Game two of the Wollongong ahm Hawks Melbourne pre-season trip is in Kilsyth on Sunday afternoon