The South East Melbourne Phoenix defence remained solid and they found some offensive confidence despite an impressive first up showing for the Illawarra Hawks from Makur Maker for the 113-96 home victory on Sunday.

Both teams had played on Friday night and had opposite results with the Phoenix suffering a third straight loss going down in Perth while the Hawks opened their account for NBL27 in their home opener beating the Adelaide 36ers.

And after going 38/151 from three over the first four games of the season, South East Melbourne again struggled early going 1/10 in the first quarter and the Hawks were leading 33-30 in the second.

But from there the Phoenix took over with a 29-8 run to close the first half and after quarter-time shot the three ball at 15/31 at 48 per cent and opened a lead as big as 24 points.

They were never seriously threatened over the last 25 minutes either. Not only did their three ball improve, they went 29/43 at the foul line to 13/16 from the Hawks for the eventual 17-point win to improve to 2-3.

Nathan Sobey delivered his best performance of NBL27 for the Phoenix with 24 points, six rebounds and six assists with shooting 4/9 from the outside.

Dash Daniels went 3/5 for 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists with D'Shawn Schwartz finishing up shooting 3/7 from deep for 15 points and five boards.

Angus Glover added 11 points and five rebounds, Skylar Mays nine points and four assists, Tanner Krebs nine points and five rebounds, and Yannis Moris eight points, four blocks and three boards.

The Hawks are now 1-4 with all four defeats coming on the road but Makur Maker in his first appearance was impressive with 14 points and four rebounds on 7/11 shooting in 22 minutes.

Kelan Martin again top scored with 17 points and four rebounds with Milton Doyle finishing with 14 points and 11 assists, and Johny Narkle 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists with 3/5 three-point shooting.

Both teams were coming off playing on Friday night with the Phoenix getting the better of the start, but seven turnovers in the first quarter caught up with them despite getting to the foul line 12 times to two.

Illawarra had the momentum by quarter-time and in his first appearance, Makur Maker, made a difference with six points and two rebounds with scores 23-23 by the end of one.

The Hawks were leading 33-30 three and-a-half minutes into the second quarter, but then the Phoenix took control

South East Melbourne closed the rest of the half outscoring Illawarra 29 points to eight over the last six minutes to turn that three-point deficit into the 59-41 lead by half-time.

Nathan Sobey was up to 14 points and three assists for the home team and they had just the one turnover in the second quarter while putting up 36 points on 12/21 shooting from the field, 6/9 from the outside and 6/8 from the foul line.

The lead for the Phoenix got out to 22 early in the third quarter and Sobey added another 10 points in the term, but the Hawks did hit back. They ended up with 32 points for the period with 13/21 shooting with Maker up to 14 points and four rebounds in his first appearance.

Again South East Melbourne pulled away to start the fourth quarter including the first six points to force Justin Tatum into an early timeout and from there the Phoenix closed the deal on the 17-point home victory.

Illawarra will now be back home to host the Tasmania JackJumpers on Friday night before the Phoenix have a second Throwdown of NBL27 already on Saturday with Melbourne United.

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 113 – ILLAWARRA HAWKS 96

SE Melbourne Phoenix
Nathan Sobey – 24 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists
Dash Daniels – 16 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists
D'Shawn Schwartz – 15 points, 5 rebounds
Jordan Hunter – 12 points, 6 rebounds
Angus Glover – 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists

Illawarra Hawks
Kelan Martin – 17 points, 4 rebounds
Makur Maker – 14 points, 4 rebounds
Milton Doyle – 14 points, 11 assists, 3 steals
Johny Narkle – 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Tyler Harvey – 10 points, 3 rebounds

Chris Pike

Phoenix soar to win over Hawks