Hawks Show Resilience Despite Narrow Loss to Adelaide
The Illawarra Hawks suffered a heartbreaking 90-88 defeat to the Adelaide 36ers on Sunday afternoon, falling just short despite a strong performance. Coming off a franchise low-scoring game, Illawarra delivered perhaps one of their best displays this NBL26 season.
Hickey’s Near Triple-Double Highlights Effort
Will “Davo” Hickey was instrumental for the Hawks, scoring a team-high 20 points along with nine rebounds, eight assists, and four blocked shots. With just 1.6 seconds left, Hickey had two free throws that could have tied the game but missed both attempts.
Hickey was one rebound and two assists shy of becoming the second indigenous player to record a triple-double.
Team’s Performance and Coach’s Perspective
Illawarra had not won in Adelaide for four years prior to this match. Head coach Justin Tatum was encouraged by his team's fight, especially just 48 hours after a heavy 102-60 loss to the New Zealand Breakers.
"I tip my hat off to my team for coming back and having so much resilience and fighting them today. They gave a great effort on both ends of the floor, just a little bit unlucky," Tatum said.
"If my team plays like this every game from now on with a full, healthy roster, we can beat anybody."
Summary
The Hawks showed admirable grit and near historic individual effort despite a narrow defeat, signaling strong potential if they maintain this level of play with a healthy squad.