The "dog" mentality driving Clark, Illawarra

Illawarra entered its Round 17 clash with New Zealand having just broken a three-game single-digit losing run, and star forward Gary Clark says there was no chance the Hawks would lose to the Breakers if the game was close down the stretch.

Clark proved to be correct. The Hawks fought back from a double-digit deficit in the first half to emerge as four-point winners, largely off the back of his game-high 29 points that kept Illawarra within touching distance of the Breakers when New Zealand had the ascendency.

Illawarra’s pair of Round 17 wins has pushed it back into the Finals positions, and Clark says the type of victory his side registered against the Breakers will help establish the Hawks as genuine contenders.

“We’ve come down to that moment a couple of times this year, coach has got us really grinding right now and trying to get into that top six so we were looking at each other saying ‘we’re not going to fold here’,” Clark said post-game.

“Whatever that meant – stops, rebounds, free throws, we were going to step up to the plate and execute.

“We look at our club and team as a whole from the beginning [of the season] to now and we’ve had spurts of success with big road wins and big home wins, but when are we going to be that consistent dog team every night where on the road or at home we handle business?

“Tonight, it was one of those games where you stop playing with your food, you handle business, and now everyone sees you as a contender, respects you, and that’s one of those wins tonight.”

Illawarra outscored the Breakers by eight points in the final quarter on Sunday, and a pair of Will Hickey free throws iced proceedings with just three seconds remaining.

Hickey’s trip to the free-throw line came in the aftermath of a bungled final shot attempt by New Zealand, which saw Parker Jackson-Cartwright run the clock down before dribbling the ball off his foot in the face of immense defensive pressure from the home side.

Interim head coach Justin Tatum says he was impressed with his team’s problem-solving mentality across the entire game, leading to the crucial late moment.

“There’s a lot of wrinkles we have to fix, but I’m happy with the outcome. I’m happy my team never gave up and didn’t start pointing fingers or be divided in some way,” Tatum said.

“They were very encouraging in the huddle and on the bench, and they had great, innovative ideas about what New Zealand was doing.

“That’s what I want to hear. I don’t want to hear excuses about what we need to do or what we’re not doing, we need to do it.”

The Hawks will continue their season on Saturday, February 3 when they take on Brisbane at 5:30pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo.