The Illawarra Hawks have withstood a late Sydney Kings challenge to win their Christmas night top-of-the-table clash 111-108 and consolidate top spot in the NBL.
The Kings, who were at home in front of 8589 fans at Qudos Bank Arena and trying to topple the league-leading Hawks, led by as much as 10 during the second quarter.
The Hawks then took charge to lead by 14 with six minutes to play before the Kings responded with the next 13 points.
But Illawarra fought back and a Trey Kell III three-pointer was crucial in the slender three-point win, with the Kings unable to force overtime at the buzzer.
The Kings got the better of the start leading 31-23, following a first quarter in which they had a combined 27 free throws.
Next Star Alex Toohey had 20 points to his name midway through the second quarter with Sydney up by 10, but Kell and Tyler Harvey then combined for 26 points after going scoreless in the opening 10 minutes.
The scores were all square at 58-58 at half-time with tempers flaring during the first half and even on the way to the locker room with Kings import Cam Oliver and Hawks captain Sam Froling needing to be separated.
The Kings opened the second half with a 9-2 run to lead again by seven, but the Hawks got rolling and by three quarter-time they had taken charge to be up by seven.
Illawarra dominated the early part of the fourth quarter too with the lead out to 14, but the Kings fired back with a 13-0 run through Toohey and Keli Leaulepe.
Sydney had possession of five offensive rebounds but couldn’t score to go ahead, as Kell led Illawarra's response with the Gong outfit improving to 12-5 in top spot with six straight triple-figure scores.
Kell finished with 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds with Harvey adding 22 points and four assists. Froling had 14 points and six rebounds, while Davo Hickey posted 12 points and five assists.
"We felt like if we want to become a championship calibre team then this is the type of game we need to win," he said.
"We had to show that resilience, and we had to fight through a lot of things to become a championship team, and we did pretty well."
The Kings slipped from second position at 11-8 with the loss despite a career-best 25 points, four rebounds and three steals from Next Star Toohey.
Leaulepe added 14 points and 12 rebounds while Kouat Noi stepped up with 24 points and nine boards.
Jaylen Adams with 18 points and seven assists, and Xavier Cooks - 11 points, nine rebounds and six dimes - were the other main contributors.
Kings coach Brian Goorjian liked some of what he saw but thinks he needs more help for Adams.
"When we take Jaylen off the ball to get him some rest, that has become a concern and it's three times now with a minute to go and they win with the guard play of Tyler Harvey and (Trey) Kell," he said.
"We still haven’t gotten over the hump there and we've been exposed when we've played them so it's back to the drawing board."
