Tyler Harvey has ensured Illawarra remain on top of the NBL table by bouncing back from a dramatic loss to beat the South East Melbourne 88-82.
In the absence of his back-court partner Trey Kell III, Harvey was brilliant for the Hawks on Saturday with 22 points on 6-of-8 three-point shooting as they overcame a 10-point second-quarter deficit to win by six and maintain top spot.
Illawarra went down to Melbourne United at home in emotional fashion on Thursday night, with coach Justin Tatum unleashing his full fury in the post-match press conference.
The Hawks then arrived at John Cain Arena without point guard Kell (back) and coming up against a rejuvenated Phoenix line-up under interim coach Sam Mackinnon.
After losing their first five games under Mike Kelly, the Phoenix were back home having won two straight with Mackinnon as coach, as he took charge for the last time ahead of American Josh King assuming the responsibilities.
South East Melbourne started impressively too and were leading by as much as 10 points thanks to a three ball from Nathan Sobey (14 points) four minutes into the second quarter.
Tatum called a timeout and his team responded with the next 14 points, then maintained that edge throughout the majority of the second half.
The Phoenix kept on coming, but Illawarra had an answer every time to improve to a 6-2 record to maintain top position.
On top of what Harvey did for the Hawks, Darius Days was a strong running mate with 16 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting, with Wani Swaka Lo Buluk tremendous again with 13 points on top of his defence on Sobey.
Sam Froling did good work down low for 11 points and seven assists, with Will "Davo" Hickey earning the start and having eight points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Tatum was pleased with his team's response during the second quarter.
"What changed for us was us understanding that we didn't want to let one get away from us again," he said.
"They came and did it, so once we got that second quarter going with 17 points in a five-minute span, that's the Hawks team we normally are accustomed to being."
The Phoenix might have lost, but three games in the past six days have been a definite step forward, with Joe Wieskamp having his best NBL performance with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Matt Hurt registered 18 points and nine rebounds, with Next Star Malique Lewis contributing 12 points, six boards and three assists.
Mackinnon liked his team's start, but it was tough work once they were playing catch-up in the second half.
"I thought we got the break early because we were getting to the rim, but then started shooting too many threes and lost our way a little bit," he said.
"The energy went out of the room and we did recover in the second half, but were just playing a bit of catch-up."
