Sean Bruce has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for reigning NBL champions Sydney Kings with a buzzer-beating nook three-pointer to seal a memorable derby win over Illawarra.
Bruce discovered his method to the identical spot teammate Kouat Noi dealt Cairns a buzzer-beating loss earlier this season, and rattled house his three-point try because the hooter sounded for an 83-82 win.
With simply 2.2 seconds left after Bruce was blocked on the earlier play in an try and tie it up at 82-82, Angus Glover fired a rocket move to his guard and Bruce confirmed nerves of metal to bury the Hawks.
Bruce gestured to the gang in a sleeping movement after the make, signalling their NSW rivals had been put to mattress along with his last-ditch shot.
“It felt pretty good, not going to lie,” Bruce mentioned after the win.
“Sometimes they look good and rim out and sometimes they don’t and go in.
“The basketball gods had been with me right this moment and grateful ‘Gus made an incredible move and I used to be capable of let it fly.”
Hawks forward Tim Coenraad had a chance at the other end to put the game to bed from the charity stripe but he missed both his free throws, gifting Sydney one last crack at the win.
Coenraad made two free throws just seconds earlier as Illawarra held a two-point margin before Bruce’s heroics moved the Kings back atop the NBL standings.
Kings coach Chase Buford said Illawarra deserved victory with the intensity they played at.
“They outplayed us, they out-competed us, particularly that second half of the fourth quarter,” he mentioned.
“They simply performed with extra of an edge. They performed with extra physicality, extra of an aggressive mindset.
“Certainly not our best game of basketball and one that I don’t think the better team won.”
Buford’s facet struggled at house towards the last-placed Hawks all through Sunday’s contest, hitting simply eight of their 33 three-point makes an attempt.
Illawarra went on a 14-6 run to halftime to path by simply three factors and stayed inside arm’s size as the competition entered the ultimate 10 minutes.
Tyler Harvey’s powerful left-hand push shot floating to his left within the ultimate minute signalled an upset was on the playing cards, as Illawarra went up 80-78.
But Bruce’s speedy transition bucket earlier than Coenraad’s consecutive journeys to the road gave the hosts a sniff, and the 31-year-old clinched their second buzzer-beating win of the season.
Six gamers completed in double figures for Sydney and Glover top-scored with 13 factors because the Kings’ bench poured in 32 beneficial factors.
Harvey ignited for the Hawks, main all gamers with 32 factors on 56 per cent capturing, and 14 of these factors coming within the ultimate time period.
But his heroics weren’t sufficient as his facet slipped to a heartbreaking loss.
