36ers go down to Hawks in the 'Gong

There were some things to be encouraged about but overall it was a disappointing afternoon in Wollongong for the Adelaide 36ers with the Illawarra Hawks coming away with the 97-83 victory.

The 36ers have already finished their home games at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre for the 2021 NBL season, and their run of three road matches to close the campaign began back on Tuesday in New Zealand.

Unfortunately that was a fifth consecutive loss for the Sixers and it was always going to be a significant challenge against the on-fire Hawks at WIN Entertainment Centre on Sunday afternoon.

Illawarra had won six of their last seven matches and needed to keep winning if they want to take part in the finals, and as a result after Adelaide started the game well, the Hawks took over and controlled most of the rest of the game.

Illawarra would end up leading by as much as 25 points but to the 36ers' credit they did fight back and show good spirit in the fourth quarter especially through Jack Purchase and Brendan Teys who made the most of their opportunities to close the final margin to 14.

Sunday Dech regained some of his offensive confidence to top-score for Adelaide in 22 minutes off the bench with 15 points on 7/11 shooting from the floor.

Brandon Paul had his moments where he looked unstoppable on his way to 13 points, five assists and four rebounds with Keanu Pinder showing his development with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Tony Crocker added 10 points and three rebounds for the Sixers, Daniel Johnson nine points and eight rebounds, Brendan Teys nine points, Jack Purchase nine points on 3/3 shooting from three, Jack McVeigh five points and three rebounds, and Daniel Dillon two points and six assists.

The 36ers started off well enough with Brandon Paul getting to the line a couple of times while Daniel Johnson knocked down a three and Keanu Pinder also scored for a 7-2 opening.

Sunday Dech then came off the bench to give the Sixers a spark too with seven quick points but by quarter-time Illawarra had managed to open up a 31-25 lead having his 5/10 from downtown.

The Hawks did blow that lead out to 16 points during the second quarter but a late bucket before half-time from Brendan Teys and an and-one play from Tony Crocker had Adelaide within 14 at the break despite the seven turnovers and going 2/14 from three-point range.

Pinder opened up the second half strongly including taking the ball full court and flushing it. Paul and Crocker also hit triples, and then Paul was really starting to feel it to make an and-one play and hit another from deep, but still Illawarra managed to open up a 24-point edge.

The Sixers at least took some momentum into three quarter-time with Jack McVeigh hitting half-court buzzer beater to bring it back to 19.

The Hawks still got it out to 25 early in the fourth quarter but the 36ers showed some fight starting when Jack Purchase came on and drained three three-point bombs on his first three possessions. 

Brendan Teys also hit another three and another basket late with Adelaide closing the final margin to 14 points having won the fourth quarter.

The 36ers now will finish the 2021 NBL season next Sunday against Melbourne United with the venue still to be decided given the current COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 20

ADELAIDE 36ERS 83 (Dech 15, Paul 13, Pinder 11) 

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 97 (Harvey 23, Froling 14, Coenraad 12)

BOX SCORE