Basketball: Hawks break Kiwi hearts

Wollongong super sub Troy Pilon grabbed his chance to shine in the spotlight as the Hawks crushed the New Zealand Breakers 127-94 last night.

The Hawks built on their intimidating home court reputation, where they are unbeaten in seven starts this season, with a victory that was all theirs by halftime.

Pilon was at his hustling best for Wollongong, playing the star club role when they were in trouble for the only time in the game.

Pilon finished with a season high 17 points on seven of nine shooting, and also scored highly in the hustle areas, adding five rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block to round off his night.

The Hawks were ambushed early, with guard Darnell Mee notably blocked three times in the opening minutes, allowing the Breakers to get off to a flyer.

Leading 12-3, New Zealand quickly came back to earth as first Matt Campbell started a concerted drive, that was finished off by Pilon off the bench.

Campbell finished with eight points, and Pilon six for the quarter as Wollongong went on an 18-2 run that had them in front 25-18 at quarter time.

The Hawks lifted another gear in the second quarter and with Pilon leading the way with 11 at halftime, Wollongong were cruising at 56-41.

The Hawks continued to roll in the third cracking the 20-point barrier for the first time, but it did manage to produce the first real spark of life from the Breakers since the game's opening.

A 7-0 burst from New Zealand got them back within 15, but it prompted an angry time out from coach Brendan Joyce, and whatever his threats were in the huddle produced a nightmare for the visitors.

Wollongong exploded in the last four minutes of the third quarter, raining baskets down from every position on the court in a 22-3 run that put them up by 34.

The final quarter was merely a formality emphasised by the fact that no Wollongong starter hit the court in the final six minutes, which they still managed to level with the Breakers 33-33.

Campbell led the scoring for Wollongong with 18 points, but it was the amazing spread of scoring that was most notable, with eight players hitting double figures, including four with 13 points.

Aaron Olsen topped the scoring for New Zealand with 16, but the loss continues the Breakers' horror run against Wollongong, winless in all six games the two teams have played.

"It was a great performance from Troy tonight and the turning point was when he came into the game," Joyce said.

"His energy is so important to us because it rubs off on everyone else.

"Right now the team is playing as well at home as I've ever seen, and we're looking pretty tough."

New Zealand coach Frank Arsego said Wollongong had all the makings of becoming the Breakers' bogey team.

"Right now we just played the best team in the comp and the way they play is where we want to be," Arsego said.

"I'm disappointed for the guys because we've worked pretty diligently the last couple of weeks but at the end of the day the same tendencies came out.

"We did a lot of work but when they cranked it up, we just couldn't step up."

- AAP