Bullets inflict more pain on Hawks

The Illawarra Hawks made a stirring run in the third quarter sparked by their bench, but the Brisbane Bullets were better for longer and inflicted some more pain on the home team with the 98-81 win.

The Hawks were back home at the WIN Entertainment Centre at 2-7 following Thursday's 26-point loss in the same building to the Sydney Kings and they needed a response.

The Bullets were coming in after losing in Tasmania on Wednesday without Arnas Velička, Sam McDaniel, Tyrell Harrison and Jacob Holt.

Harrison was back on Saturday to take on the Hawks and the Bullets took charge with three-time Olympian and 464-game NBA veteran point guard Raul Neto into the starting line-up and running things smoothly.

Brisbane opened up a 20-point lead by half-time and even though Illawarra did hit back in the third term getting all the way back within three with Todd Blanchfield, Dan Grida and Johny Narkle showing the way, the Bullets again responded.

The visitors took back in control and in the first, second and fourth quarters, outscored the Hawks 84 points to 54 before winning by 17 and improving to a 4-4 record.

Nate Hinton had a standout all-round game for the Bullets with 21 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Harrison was back and delivered 14 points and eight rebounds while Archie Woodhill chimed in with 10 points and five boards while hitting both three-point attempts.

Lat Mayen also had 10 points and six rebounds including a huge putback dunk late with Max Mackinnon having 14 points and seven boards, and then Neto enjoying his first start in a second appearance with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Pressure continues to mount on an Illawarra team now 2-8 with their import pairing of Milton Doyle (eight points, four assists, 3/12 shooting) and Kelan Martin (two points, one turnover, 1/4) struggling mightily.

Todd Blanchfield was a shining light but he's 477 games into his NBL career and had 19 points, four rebounds and two assists while Sam Froling added 14 points and six boards, Tyler Harvey 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Grida (eight points, two assists) and Narkle (five points, four rebounds) were instrumental in the third quarter fight back.

The pressure was building on the Hawks coming into their second home game of the round and the Bullets turned that up further with a strong start with 25 points to 16 in the opening quarter.

Archie Woodhill stepped up for five early points relieving Tyrell Harrison while Nate Hinton produced four points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds while the Bullets also forced the Hawks into six turnovers.

Brisbane took further control in the second quarter and piled on 30 points to 19 to go into half-time in control of the contest leading 55-35.

Hinton was up to 14 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals with Harrison adding eight points and three boards.

As a team, the Bullets shot 12/22 for the quarter to 8/18 from the Hawks and by half-time, they had 43 points in the paint to 20 and 13 second chance points to seven.

It might be still early, but the Hawks' season was potentially on the line after that first half, and they responded in the third quarter to breathe some life into the WIN Entertainment Centre.

It was Johny Narkle and Dan Grida who helped to spark a run for the Hawks and they put up 27 points on 9/18 shooting with Todd Blanchfield adding another six points to by up to 16 with 3/5 three-point shooting.

That had Illawarra cut the Brisbane lead to 69-62 by three quarter-time, but the Bullets did well to respond and regained a degree of control in the fourth quarter to end up outscoring the Hawks 29 points to 19 to win by 17.

The Hawks have a full week before being on the road next Saturday night to the Perth Wildcats with the Bullets back home to the Cairns Taipans on Thursday.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 81 – BRISBANE BULLETS 98

Illawarra Hawks
Todd Blanchfield – 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Sam Froling – 14 points, 6 rebounds
Tyler Harvey – 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Milton Doyle – 8 points, 4 assists
Daniel Grida – 8 points, 2 assists

Brisbane Bullets
Nate Hinton – 21 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals
Tyrell Harrison – 14 points, 8 rebounds
Max Mackinnon – 14 points, 7 rebounds
Raul Neto – 11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists
Archie Woodhill – 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2/2 3PT