Hawks fly all over Snakes in second half

Both front courts were firing and the Cairns Taipans went into half-time leading, but it was a domination from the Illawarra Hawks from there for the 96-78 win to keep their championship defence alive.

The Taipans arrived at the WIN Entertainment Centre having won their past three visits to Wollongong including earlier this season, and with Jack McVeigh and Sam Waardenburg leading the way, they had a strong first half.

The Snakes put up 31 points in the second quarter alone to go into half-time leading 49-45, but McVeigh missed his only five shot attempts of the second half with Wani Swaka Lo Buluk clamping him down.

And the Hawks took complete control of the contest with 27 points to 15 in the third quarter including a 13-0 scoring run, and then another 24 points to 14 in the second half.

Illawarra outscored Cairns 51-29 after half-time for the 18-point win to improve to 8-13 on the season as they attempt to chase down the sixth placed Tasmania JackJumpers who are 10-13.

Illawarra posted back-to-back victories for the second time this season after their New Year's Eve win over Tasmania.

JaVale McGee and Sam Froling took another step forward in their front-court partnership in the latter's third game back from an achilles injury, and were among six Hawks scorers in double figures.

Froling finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists while McGee contributed 16 points, 10 boards and two assists as their partnership up front develops.

Tyler Harvey was back into the starting line-up and went 4/9 from downtown for 18 points with five rebounds and three assists while fellow shooter QJ Peterson had 14 points, three boards, three assists and two steals on 3/7 three-point shooting.

Daniel Grida also had 11 points, two rebounds and two steals, and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk 10 points to go with his standout defence on McVeigh.

The Taipans remain in last place at 5-17 with McVeigh scoreless in the second half on 0/5 shooting after having 16 points on 5/6 to half-time.

Waardenburg also finished with 17 points and three rebounds with Mojave King adding 11 points and five boards, Admiral Schofield 10 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Kyrin Galloway nine points and nine boards.

McGee opened the scoring with a dunk on a lob from Harvey, who was back in the Hawks' starting line-up, and the home team started on a 12-4 run.

But their advantage was just 22-18 at quarter-time despite taking 11 more field-goal attempts to that point.

Cairns pounced, producing their highest-scoring quarter of the season in the second period, and led 49-45 at half-time on the back of hot-handed McVeigh.

The Hawks flipped the script again, starting the second half on a 13-3 streak as the intensity of the contest went up a level.

A repeat offender, Taipans import Andrew Andrews again frustrated coach Adam Forde when he was handed yet another tech foul, this time for disputing his foul on Peterson.

Illawarra went into party mode in the fourth quarter, dominating from the restart to pull clear for a comfortable win.

The Hawks are next in action on Thursday night at Melbourne's State Basketball Centre against the South East Melbourne Phoenix while on Wednesday, the Taipans face Melbourne United in Bendigo.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 96 (Harvey 18, McGee 16, Froling 16)

CAIRNS TAIPANS 78 (Waardenburg 17, McVeigh 16, King 11)

BOX SCORE