ILLAWARRA’S three-game win streak came to a shuddering halt in Wollongong on Saturday, with the Hawks squandering an 18-point lead to go down 79-77 to Melbourne United.
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The Hawks led by 12 at halftime and by as much as 18 midway through the third term only to be out-scored 23-12 in the final quarter.
Boomers rep Nick Kay was a powerhouse in the opening three terms to finish with 17 points.
United took the lead for the first time in the match in the 38th minute on the back of free-throws from new import Carrick Felix with the Hawks unable to scramble back in front.
Felix had 16 of his 19 points in the second half to go with 10 rebounds in a double-double while Chris Goulding had five triples in his 22 points.
Casper Ware had 10 of his 12 points in the second half while Josh Boone (11) and Tai Wesley (12) were the other men in double figures for the visitors.
Demitrius Conger again led the Hawks with 22 points and five rebounds.
Rotnei Clarke chimed in with 16 points on a night the Hawks shot a collective four of 21 from three-point range.
The loss leaves the Hawks facing a stretch of must-win games against New Zealand and Adelaide in the next fortnight to keep their playoffs hopes alive.
Coach Rob Beveridge described his side’s fourth quarter effort as “soft” in the aftermath.
“With our game plan, with our energy level, we dominated the game for 36 minutes, we executed to a t, and then the last five minutes was absolute crap,” Beveridge said.
“It is really, really disappointing. [Melbourne] came out with this swagger with an expectation that they were going to win and all we did the last five was protect the lead.
“We went to water, we were soft. We showed how damn good we can be, we’re playing some good basketball at the moment, it was a hell of a game and we controlled most of it.
“Then we went soft. We missed lay-up after lay-up, we failed to execute what I wanted from a coaching perspective and we lived and died by the three-point line.
“We just didn’t execute down the stretch. We let them off the hook tonight and it’s very disappointing and frustrating for our team and our club.”
Kay and Clarke wasted no time getting on the sheet early in the piece before a fast-break lay-up Conger’s forced Vickerman into a timeout.
Kay added two more after the resumptions before Boone finally posted United’s first points after more than three minutes.
It sparked a mini-run from the visitors with Felix, Goulding and Craig Moller all hitting triples to level-up at 15 apiece midway through the quarter.
Rhys Martin had four points and Johnson had four with an and-one play as the Hawks took an 8-2 run into the first break to lead 24-17.
Kay nailed his first three to start the second term to push the margin out to double figures. Wesley hit back with the next four points before Clarke fired from the perimeter to re-take the momentum.
Goulding fired back with two triples of his own before four more points to Kay and a three-point-play from Conger saw the lead swell to 16.
Boone came to life with five points to close the quarter with another late bucket from Wesley bringing the margin back to 12 at halftime.
A three-point play from Kay and a long bomb from Clarke saw the lead balloon to 18 before seven points to Felix and four to Goulding pegged it back to 10.
Conger’s first three of the evening swung things back to the hosts before Ware sprung to life with six straight points to get the deficit back to single figures at the final break.
Felix exploded in the fourth adding six more quick points while Goulding had a pair of threes either side of an alley-oop slam from Conger to get within a single point.
Felix took his side’s first lead of the game shooting two of three from the foul-line to go up 74-73 with a minute and a half remaining.
Boone also went two of two from the line to push the lead out to three before Clarke provided a neat finish at the rim to get back within one.
The desperate forced a turnover on the next play but Felix produced a crucial intercept of a Clarke pass that would have sent Conger to the basket unopposed.
Ware made no mistake from the line after he was fouled with Felix also closing the show from the line.
The Hawks had a glimmer of hope when Conger had an and-one in the dying moments but his side couldn’t pull down a crucial rebound for a miraculous win.