"They [Southland] came at us strong in the second quarter [winning 24-19 for both sides to go to the locker room tied 42-42] to put us on the back foot so it took us some time to recover from that," he said of the Paul Henare-coached Sharks after the Hawks won the first quarter 23-18.
The hosts threw in the kitchen sink in the final spell with a 32-29 statement but it was too little, too late.
Again, the team factor screamed out for the Hawks as seven players made double-figure contributions.
US imports Dustin Scott (18pts, 8 reb) and Kareem Johnson (16pts, 10 reb) set the platform, but what was inspiring was bench players Marco Alexander (16pts) and Darryl Jones (12pts) adding to the cause.
Winitana (15pts, 8 reb), Everard Bartlett (13pts) and Jarrod Kenny (11pts 4 assists) rounded off the magnificent seven's unforgiving double-header tour of duty that yielded no points last season.
Baldwin said his men didn't play a settled quarter but played good basketball against the defending champions.
"Marco gave us a shot in the arm in the third quarter but Southland deserve a tremendous amount of credit."
The multiple NBL title-winning and former Tall Blacks coach has seen a lot of basketball in his lifetime but lauded some shots from the Sharks against resolute defence.
"Kevin Braswell [23pts] took some shots that I've never seen before."
The Hawks' win was established on maintaining healthy rebounding spells and overwhelming the Sharks in the points-in-the-paint department (48-28) that reflected they had toiled at both ends of the court.
"JK [Kenny] had a phenomenal game although his shooting wasn't great."
Bench part-timers Matt Wilson and Anamata Haku had few minutes but played their roles with aplomb.
With Jones pulling up lame with 2:50 left on the clock, Johnson stepped up despite his groin strain.
Just as the Nuggets had dropped the shutters on Johnson the night before, the Hawks immobilised Sharks' leading scorer, Reuben Te Rangi, to a paltry four points, shooting 1/8 from the field and coughing up possession four times.
Henare moved David Gruber into the starting line-up in place of Leon Henry (16pts) and the import centre delivered (23pts, 10 reb).
Former Hawks stalwart and two-time ANBL title-winning captain Henare said the visitors played a better game while his troops had a poor start and abysmal third spell.
"We always seemed to be digging ourselves out of a hole so the Hawks capitalised on our mistakes."
The ex-Hawks coach said they treated Johnson's injury simply as "smoke and mirrors" and more like a niggle.
He agreed things didn't pan out for Te Rangi.
"I have to pull myself sometimes to remember he's only 19 years old so not everything will go his way. He could be a good rebounder with defensive skills."
Gruber, filling in on short notice for hamstrung import Brian Conklin, was "awesome" and had slotted in well.
"He's infectious with his positivity and personality."
The Sharks, who claimed their maiden NBL title in Napier last year, were inconsistent this season and had lost to all the top-four teams.
"We're below par but I still have belief in the group to turn things around and not leave their run too late."
Waitakere Rangers caused the upset of the weekend, beating Wellington Saints 85-81.
The Nelson Giants, Saints and Hawks are on 10 points in that order on the NBL table with the former two having played one game fewer (six).
