Hawks soar in shootout with Snakes

After both teams produced a scintillating first half made up of 123 points and 19 three-pointers, the Illawarra Hawks kept that going better to win back-to-back wins for the first time in NBL27, beating the Cairns Taipans 107-95.

The Hawks arrived at the Cairns Convention Centre fresh off a strong win in Perth with the Taipans trying to hit back from a loss in Melbourne having previously won five of their last six.

The teams both came out hot shooting 13/16 combined from behind the arc in the first quarter before still going 19/34 to half-time with Cairns narrowly leading 62-61.

No more than seven points separated them until three quarter-time, but the Hawks had worked on top in the third quarter and then took charge in the fourth on the way to the 12-point win.

Illawarra still managed another 46 points on 18/33 shooting and 4/13 in the second half, but the Taipans went cold, managing just 33 points while going 13/38 from the field and 2/14 from behind the arc.

The Hawks improve to 4-8 with back-to-back wins with Makur Maker a dominant presence with 24 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks on 9/14 shooting.

Tyler Harvey also had 19 points on 5/8 three-point shooting, Kelan Martin 19 points and three assists, Milton Doyle 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Davo Hickey 12 points, four boards and three assists.

The Snakes have now lost their past two to be 6-6 with Keanu Pinder battling foul trouble but having 21 points and eight rebounds.

Jack McVeigh was scoreless in the fourth quarter for 20 points with seven assists on 3/6 shooting from deep with Jaylon Brown adding 14 points and five assists, Next Star Luke Paul 12 points, four rebounds and two steals in his first start, and former Next Star Malique Lewis eight points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Both teams came out feeling good about themselves offensively and combined for 67 points in the first quarter with 13/16 three-point shooting between them.

Cairns ended up leading 35-32 by quarter-time but the performances from both teams were remarkably similar with each of them shooting 12/17 from the field with the Snakes hitting 8/10 from the outside and the Hawks 5/6.

Jack McVeigh and Tyler Harvey both had 11 points on 3/4 three-point shooting for their respective teams while Keanu Pinder had seven points on 3/4 shooting for Cairns and Makur Maker eight points on 3/4 for Illawarra.

The hot shooting continued in the second quarter but neither team could make a break with the biggest lead being the five points the Hawks were up by with four points to go in the half.

But the Taipans responded and went into the half-time break leading 62-61 on the back of another 27 points even while making just 3/10 from the outside with Pinder up to 17 points and McVeigh 14.

The Hawks scored 29 more points on 9/15 shooting from the floor and 3/8 from downtown with Maker hitting a couple of threes and having 18 points with Milton Doyle up to 11 points and three assists.

Illawarra pushed out to their biggest lead of the game in the third quarter to be up seven and still on top 87-82 by three quarter-time on the back of another 26 points to 20 with Maker adding four more points, Harvey six and Doyle another six.

Pinder was up to 19 points for Cairns but also picked up a fourth foul and the Hawks were able to build on their advantage through the fourth quarter getting out to the game's first double-figure advantage before securing back-to-back wins with the 12-point victory.

Both teams back up to play again over the weekend with the Hawks staying on the road to the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday while the Taipans make the trip across the Nullarbor to play the Perth Wildcats on Sunday.

CAIRNS TAIPANS 95 – ILLAWARRA HAWKS 107

Cairns Taipans
Keanu Pinder – 21 points, 8 rebounds
Jack McVeigh – 20 points, 7 assists, 3/6 3PT
Jaylon Brown – 14 points, 5 assists, 3/6 3PT
Luke Paul – 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Malique Lewis – 8 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists

Illawarra Hawks
Makur Maker – 24 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks
Tyler Harvey – 19 points, 3 rebounds, 5/8 3PT
Kelan Martin – 19 points, 3 assists
Milton Doyle – 18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Davo Hickey – 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists