Tyler Harvey’s miracle last-second bomb from nearly midcourt has seen the Illawarra Hawks snap an 11-game shedding streak with a pulsating 78-76 NBL win over the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland.
Tom Abercrombie’s steal and dunk with 10 seconds remaining on Thursday gave the fast-finishing Breakers their first lead since early within the opening time period, earlier than Harvey (25 factors) replied together with his huge, matchwinning dagger with 1.3 seconds on the clock.
Harvey’s sixth three-pointer – from the midcourt emblem – sealed Illawarra’s first highway victory of the season and ended their 45-day winless drought.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Harvey mentioned.
“It’s been a battle for us.
“We all needed that win so dangerous.
“We just tried to compete and give ourselves the best chance to win.
“That shot went in but it surely’s all of the work that led as much as that shot that gave us that chance.”
Big Dererk Pardon (19 points, 17 rebounds) was massive for the Breakers, whose fourth successive defeat – ahead of a tough task against the ladder-leading Kings in Sydney on Sunday – sees their finals prospects suddenly looking shaky.
They were left to rue a poor start as the Hawks rode an early 15-0 burst to a 27-14 quarter-time cushion, Mangok Mathiang pouring in eight unanswered points in two minutes off the bench during that run.
Illawarra went cold in the second term, missing 12 consecutive shots as Pardon’s lion-hearted offensive rebounding helped reduce the deficit to four points at halftime.
An upgraded unsportsmanlike foul on Abercrombie saw the visitors finish the third period with a pair of Davo Hickey free throws and a Mathiang dunk.
The Hawks’ advantage swelled to 10 points after Harvey produced back-to-back triples and a floater but NZ raced to the finish line.
Abercrombie’s steal and slam capped a 13-2 spree, earlier than Harvey had the ultimate say from 30 toes.
