Kings defeat the Hawks in overtime thriller

Written by Matt McQuade for Kings Media

Result: Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings 79 Illawarra Hawks 75 in overtime

Stats That Matter: Kings 38 points in the paint; Kings 24 bench points; Rebound count Hawks 52 Kings 51

Kings MVP: Jordan Hunter was a colossus inside at both ends of the floor.

Turning Point: The Kings scored the first four points of the overtime period and never relinquished their lead.

The game was over when: Craig Moller hit a three pointer at the shot clock buzzer with 14 seconds remaining

Trending in the right direction: Shaun Bruce quietly had a career-high 13 rebounds.

A Craig Moller three pointer with 14 seconds left has given the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings a thrilling 79-75 victory over the Illawarra Hawks in overtime on Saturday night at WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong.

In an intense battle that just added another extraordinary chapter in this rivalry that spans 101 games, the purple and gold withstood a hostile Illawarra crowd and a highly motivated Hawks’ outfit to record their fourth straight victory that sees them retain third place on the NBL ladder with a 14-12 record.

Sydney built a 14-point lead with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter before Illawarra launched a desperate comeback that saw them hold the visitors to just 19 points in the final 17 minutes and very nearly pull off the victory.

Indeed, the Kings had to survive a last-ditch jumper from Hawks’ guard Tyler Harvey (18 points, seven rebounds, two assists) that would have won the game with the score tied at 69 after 40 brutal minutes, but the shot rimmed out and the game went to an extra session.

Importantly, Sydney controlled the first two minutes of overtime, kicking things off with a monster dunk from Jarell Martin (11 points, four rebounds) on the end of some excellent offensive execution. Jordan Hunter (16 points, 11 rebounds, two blocked shots) had an emphatic rejection on the next play, and development player Lochlan Hutchinson then scored inside to give the Kings the perfect start.

Hunter had a basket and free throw to extend Sydney’s lead to five, but the Hawks kept coming, and when Sam Froling (22 points, 12 rebounds) scored inside with 44 seconds left, Illawarra trailed 76-75 and the crowd was roaring.

The Hawks were desperate on the next possession and were flying all over the floor in an attempt to deny Sydney, who ran the shot clock down before getting it to Moller (12 points, nine rebounds) who buried his biggest three-point basket of the season to give the Kings a two-possession lead with seconds left.

Illawarra launched a pair of three pointers that were off the mark, and fittingly, the night’s hero in Moller corralled the defensive rebound to send the majority of the 3,724 crowd home disappointed.

But not Brydens Lawyers Head Coach Adam Forde, whose beaten-up ballclub showed yet again just what a resilient group they are, as they found new ways to win on a night when the ball wasn’t falling for them.

“For the most part, that was some guts by the guys,” Coach Forde said.

“Everybody really stepped up. Shaun Bruce is another example when his shot wasn’t necessarily on tonight but he grabbed 13 rebounds. And Hutch (Lochlan Hutchison) comes off the bench and we really threw him in the deep end against one of the best offensive guards in the league, and he got it done for us.”

“I just know that when I go to the video and anything I want to pick apart that is negative is going to be absolutely overshadowed by the sheer determination and gutsy effort by the team.”

“We had a minutes’ restriction for Jarell (Martin); Casper (Ware) is banged up, we had to go deep in the bench and we had a funky line-up, but when you go into finals basketball these are the things you can relate to. A hostile environment with your backs against the wall, the crowd’s against you and the momentum is in the opposition’s favour so when you go into finals basketball – how do you knuckle down and get the win?”

“We can reference back to what we did tonight.”

The Kings shot the ball at 38% from the field, were 9 of 32 from three-point range and 8 of 10 from the foul line in their hard-fought victory. Ware led his squad with 18 points, three rebounds and four assists and showed great heart to come back into the game after suffering a debilitating cork to his thigh early in the overtime session, while Shaun Bruce had a career-high 13 rebounds and Daniel Kickert added an important eight points off the bench.

The Kings play just one game in Round 16, but it’s a big one as they take on the number one team in the NBL, Melbourne United, on Sunday May 2 at John Cain Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 5:00pm.

Rise With Us Sydney.

BRYDENS LAWYERS SYDNEY KINGS 79 (Ware 18, Hunter 16, Moller 12)
ILLAWARRA HAWKS 75 (Froling 22, Harvey 18, Simon 16) in overtime at WIN Entertainment Centre. Wollongong.

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