Musashi Match Report: Phoenix Fall in a Thriller

You put together two brilliant shooters in your backcourt to deliver moments like Friday night and it was Tyler Harvey and Justinian Jessup who shot the Illawarra Hawks to the stunning 82-80 comeback win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Coming into the game on a three-game losing streak and having lost five of six, the Hawks were feeling the heat back on their WIN Entertainment Centre floor on Friday just two days after a tough loss in the same building to the shorthanded Brisbane Bullets.

And for a lot of the night against a hot Phoenix team who themselves had won six of the last seven, Illawarra didn’t really look to have any rights winning the game.

The Phoenix were well on top most of the way despite losing Ryan Broekhoff to what appeared a hamstring injury. They led by 17 points on the back of a 16-0 run either side of half-time.

South East Melbourne was still up 13 with 7:45 to go in the game and by four with 3:20 to go after yet another Kyle Adnam, but the Hawks just wouldn’t be denied and it was all on the confidence to shoot from their backcourt stars Tyler Harvey and Justinian Jessup.

Harvey knocked down three triples for 10 fourth quarter points while Jessup added two three-point bombs and a three-point play for 11 points in the term. That suddenly saw the Hawks lead 82-75 with under a minute to go.

But the game wasn’t done. Adnam hit another three for the Phoenix and then both Justin Simon and Sam Froling missed a pair of free-throws so the visitors had a chance with 10 seconds left and down just two.

The league's most experienced player Adam Gibson got a good look but it wouldn’t fall and the Hawks breathed a huge sigh of relief to hold on and win by two.

Jessup finished with 26 points and six rebounds for Illawarra while hitting 5/8 from deep with Harvey delivering 22 points, six boards and four assists with 4/8 from beyond the arc.

Sam Froling had 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks, Deng Deng nine points and seven boards, and Justin Simon eight points and six rebounds.

Despite the return of Keifer Sykes, Kyle Adnam still had 22 points for South East Melbourne while hitting 5/6 from downtown. Sykes returned strongly too for 14 points in 21 and-a-half minutes.

Mitch Creek added 15 points and six rebounds, Yanni Wetzell nine points and seven boards while Cam Gliddon, Ben Moore and Broekhoff scored six points each.

The Hawks remain at home to host the Cairns Taipans on Sunday while the Phoenix head to Sydney to take on the Kings on the same day.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 13

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 82 (Jessup 26, Harvey 22, Froling 10)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 80 (Adnam 22, Creek 15, Sykes 14) 

Written by NBL.com.au (09/04/2021)