Hawks hold out JackJumpers in NYE thriller

The Illawarra Hawks could never quite put the Tasmania JackJumpers away but escaped with the 92-90 home win on New Year's Eve with Bryce Hamilton's attempted layup to force overtime coming a split second late.

The Hawks were hosting their annual New Year's Eve game at the WIN Entertainment Centre and got off to an impressive start against the JackJumpers to lead most of the contest.

That included an 11-point lead going into half-time and even with the JackJumpers scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter, by three quarter-time the Hawks were back up by eight.

Josh Bannan put the JackJumpers on his back in the final term scoring 17 points in the last 10 minutes alone to set up a frantic finish with the Hawks up two with 3.0 seconds on the clock.

Tasmania had the ball coming out of a timeout with David Johnson getting a good look at what would have been the game winning three, but it was blocked by Davo Hickey.

Hamilton was able to pick up the deflection, though, and go up for the reverse layup and make it.

The only problem was time expired with the ball still in his hands as the Hawks held on for the two-point victory that keeps their championship defence alive at 7-13 to close the game on the sixth placed JackJumpers who are now 10-13.

The Hawks did lead for more than 34 minutes of the contest and by as much as 12 points with their twin tower attack of Sam Froling and JaVale McGee combining for 32 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

It was just a second game of the season for Froling after he ruptured his achilles in Game 4 of last season's Championship Series. He was again strong with 16 points, 10 boards and four assists on 7/10 shooting.

McGee delivered six blocks to go with 16 points, six rebounds and two assists.

Tyler Harvey also returned from a back injury for 15 points with 4/9 three-point shooting while QJ Peterson added 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Biwali Bayles provided energy starting with seven points, five boards and three steals.

The JackJumpers missed a chance to further consolidate sixth position with their struggles of going 14/24 at the foul line once again hurting them.

Bannan ended the game with 25 points and six rebounds on 11/14 shooting with those 17 points in the fourth quarter while point guard Tyger Campbell added 18 points and three assists.

David Johnson also had 16 points, five rebounds and three steals for Tasmania with Majok Deng contributing 11 points, two boards and two assists, and Bryce Hamilton 10 points, two rebounds and two assists.

The Hawks remain at home to open 2026 hosting the Cairns Taipans on Saturday while the JackJumpers return to MyState Bank Arena to host Melbourne United later on Saturday night.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26 – IGNITE CUP BY DISNEY+

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 92 (McGee 16, Froling 16, Harvey 15)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 90 (Bannan 25, Campbell 18, Johnson 16)

BOX SCORE