Match Report: 36ers end road trip with Hawks loss

19/OCT/2008 – A dominant second half by the Wollongong Hawks has seen them forge a 105-95 victory over the Adelaide 36ers at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Friday.

In a vital game for two teams looking to elevate towards the northern end of the standings, the Hawks overcame a seven-point first half deficit to carve the win behind a 55-38 second half.

Kavossy Franklin kick started his season with his best performance to date, pouring in a game-high 24 points (11-of-20) with six rebounds and four assists.

'Tonight when I came out aggressive I could kind of see the energy going through the guys on the defensive end, even though they were scoring some buckets in the first half,' Franklin said.

'Cookie came in and gave us a speech and we got re-focused and we came out in the second half and did what we had to do.'

'It's not about individual players, it's about team play and for us to hold that team, a scoring team to 38 points in the second half was great.'

Franklin was supported by a pair of blue-collar double-doubles by Dusty Rychart (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Anthony Petrie (12 points, 10 boards) as the Hawks improved to 3-1 at home.

Wollongong enjoyed a 52 percent (24-of-46) shooting clip in the last 24 minutes as Adelaide struggled through a 40 percent (16-of-40) half.

'In the second half we definitely focused on defence, I thought we played with much better intensity on defence and a lot more physical and I think that caused them some problems,' Hawks coach Eric Cooks said.

Mark Tyndale topped the Sixers with 18 points, eight assists and six boards and Adam Ballinger added 17 points as Adelaide lost its fourth consecutive road game.

'It's not panic stations, but we do have a real sense of urgency about us now, we need to turn things around,' Sixers guard Aaron Bruce said.

'Four losses is way too much in our opinion, so we definitely have a bad taste in out mouth and the only way to get rid of it is get back to the drawing board and work hard.'

'It's just an effort thing and that's just an attitude that has got to change.'

Both teams shot the ball exceptionally well during a frantic first quarter, Franklin paced the Hawks with ten points, while Brad Davidson closed the term with Adelaide's fourth triple to give the visitors a slim 30-29 edge.

Defence began to prevail in the second and the Sixers preserved their lead for the initial six minutes, as the Hawks racked up four early fouls.

A sudden 6-0 spurt punctuated by consecutive lay-ups from Brad Hill handed Adelaide a seven-point advantage, forcing Eric Cooks to call the first time-out of the game.

The Sixers went on to lead by as much as ten on a three by Ballinger and eventually ended the half up 57-50 thanks to another late triple by Davidson.

Cam Tragardh opened the third with a trio of jumpers to pull the Hawks within one at 58-59, but the Sixers continued to cling to the lead for the next five minutes.

Rhys Martin's floater tied the game at 68-68, before Franklin's coast-to-coast drive gave Wollongong its first lead since the first quarter at 74-73.

Leading by two in the final seconds, Martin gained possession on a broken play and swished a last gasp heave just past half-court on the buzzer to push Wollongong to 81-76.

Adelaide shaved an eight-point deficit to four on a Bruce triple with five minutes to play, but Rychart posted five unanswered points including a clutch three to steady to the ship for Wollongong.

The Hawks (3-4) next play the Gold Coast Blaze at home on Friday, while the Sixers (2-4) host the Perth Wildcats next Saturday.

Wollongong Hawks 105 (Franklin 24, Rychart 16, Saville 14)
Adelaide 36ers 95 (Tyndale 18, Ballinger 17, Bruce 14)
@ WIN Entertainment Centre, 17/10/2008. Crowd: 2329.

Match report by NBL/Sportal