By Shayne Hope
The injury-hit Illawarra Hawks have pulled off a remarkable 80-71 road win over Melbourne United to send the NBL championship series to a deciding game.
Trailing 2-1 in the best-of-five series, the Hawks lost import Trey Kell (knee) before tip-off at John Cain Arena on Wednesday night and had star big man Sam Froling limp off (achilles) early in the second quarter.
Illawarra Hawk Tyler Harvey celebrates after scoring in game four of the NBL Grand Final Series.Credit: Getty Images
But Will Hickey (22 points) stepped up as the star of the show as the visitors ground out the toughest of victories in a low-scoring slugfest.
Back-up centre Lachie Olbrich added 13 points off the bench in a vital contribution after Froling went down, and Tyler Harvey (12) landed some telling blows.
Matthew Dellavedova (17 points) did his best to lift Melbourne and Chris Goulding (17) lifted in the second half, after shooting 0-of-7 from the field in the first.
In an emotional rollercoaster of a series, travelling teams have now won four straight games.
Matthew Dellavedova did his best to lift Melbourne to victory.Credit: Getty Images
Illawarra will have home-court advantage for game five, to be played at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Sunday.
Both sides were dealt setbacks before the tip as Illawarra’s All-NBL First Team guard Kell failed a fitness test on the knee he injured late in game three.
Melbourne’s Shea Ili was also ruled out, the two-time defensive player of the year still struggling with the effects of a head knock during game two.
Froling was a dominant figure in Illawarra’s hot 15-5 start but Dellavedova sparked United into action, inspiring a 12-0 run as the home side edged ahead early in the second period.
William Hickey finished with a career-high 22 points and was named Player of the Game. Credit: Getty Images
In a huge blow, the Hawks lost star man Froling just over one minute into the second term.
Tension boiled over when Hawks import Darius Days charged through Goulding off the ball, sending the United captain tumbling to the floor.
United managed to slow the game down and led 32-28 at the main break, holding the Hawks to their lowest first-half score of the season in the process.
But the visitors wouldn’t give up the fight, throwing another serious punch with a 13-4 start to the second half.
Hickey scored nine points in the third quarter, off-setting eight from Goulding, who hit two huge threes, and the Hawks led 51-48 with one period left.
Days came up big in the final quarter as Illawarra resisted Melbourne’s efforts, sending many in the 10,175-strong crowd heading for the exit early.
