QJ has 42 as Hawks beat Phoenix in OT

The Illawarra Hawks withstood a Nathan Sobey outburst and smothering South East Melbourne Phoenix pressure and offensive rebounding to steady in overtime and win 113-109 with QJ Peterson going for 42 points.

The Hawks dominated the opening three quarters at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Thursday night leading by as much as 20 points in the third frame, but the Phoenix wore the home team down.

South East Melbourne ended up pulling down 29 offensive rebounds for the game and forced Illawarra into 24 turnovers, and then suddenly after he missed his first 11 shots of the game, Sobey caught fire.

He made a couple of huge threes, then completed a three-point play and put the Phoenix in prime position for the huge comeback win with 14 quick points until JaVale McGee scored on a cut to the basket to get the Hawks to overtime.

Then in the extra period, Peterson and McGee did the damage for the Hawks as they scored the two-point win to keep their championship defence alive in dramatic fashion.

By the end of the game, there were some remarkable numbers with the Phoenix taking 104 shot attempts to 77 from Illawarra on the back of that offensive rebound dominance and the Hawks turnovers.

South East Melbourne also went 19/28 at the foul line to 11/13 but the Hawks had a focus of playing inside the arc and shot 63 per cent from the field with just 18 three-point attempts.

In direct contrast, the Phoenix got up 58 threes and made 16 while shooting just 36 per cent overall to lose a game on a night where it's hard to imagine a great dominance in the possession battle.

It was a flying start from the Hawks who had lost their last three games heading into the FIBA break and they jumped the Phoenix to be leading 31-13 by quarter-time.

The home team was still leading 54-39 by half-time with the lead getting out to 20 in the third, but the Phoenix turned things around with their full-court pressure and offensive rebounding in the fourth.

South East Melbourne went on to outscore Illawarra 32 to 19 in that fourth quarter with Sobey turning it on having missed his first 11 shot attempts, but an inbounds play that got McGee rolling to the basket saw him score and get the game an extra five minutes.

The Hawks closed the deal in overtime with Peterson having the best game of his NBL career with 42 points, five rebounds and four assists on 16/25 field goal shooting and 6/11 from downtown.

McGee produced another 29 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks with Davo Hickey having a mixed night with 16 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and three blocks but also eight turnovers.

Despite only having four points before hitting his first field goal late in the game, Sobey finished with 19 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals for South East Melbourne despite 6/21 shooting with 2/13 from deep.

Wes Iwundu top scored with 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals with John Brown III pulling down 10 offensive rebounds to go with 15 points with Angus Glover adding 15 points and five boards, and Jordan Hunter 14 points with another 3/6 triples.

Both teams back up to play again this weekend with the Hawks remaining at home to host the Cairns Taipans on Saturday while on Sunday, the Phoenix have another crack at the league-leading Melbourne United in the third Throwdown already of NBL26.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 113 (Peterson 42, McGee 29, Hickey 16)

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 109 (Iwundu 22, Sobey 19, Brown III 15, Glover 15)

BOX SCORE