Steve Barrett at The Dome
The Wollongong Hawks have entered the playoffs in style and consigned the Adelaide 36ers to their first-ever wooden spoon with a pulsating 82-79 overtime win at The Dome on Saturday night.
After scores were tied at 68-68 at the end of regulation time, the Hawks held their nerve in an extra period which saw four lead changes to emerge with the hard-earned victory.
Cameron Tragardh starred for the visitors with 24 points at 75 percent from the field and he received tremendous support from Luke Martin (14 points) and veteran Glen Saville (12).
For the hosts, captain Adam Ballinger was a warrior, notching a game-high 28 points at 67 percent while Cortez Groves battled hard for his 18 points, five boards and seven assists.
The opening quarter belonged to Tragardh who impressed with his array of post moves and inside-outside prowess, scoring eight points at 80 percent to pace the Hawks to a 23-14 quarter-time lead.
Tragardh continued his purple patch in the second term, almost single-handedly guiding the Hawks to a 34-20 advantage with 6:43 left at which point Adelaide coach Scott Ninnis called for time.
The time-out did wonders for the 36ers, who duly outscored the visitors 16-6 to close the half only trailing 40-36, Groves finding his touch and Matt Burston excelling in the paint after Ballinger had earlier scored Adelaide's first eight points of the stanza, including a sweet drive down the middle and one-handed slam.
Adelaide reduced the margin to two points midway through the third period before unsung point guard Luke Martin took the contest by the scruff of the neck.
Martin, scoreless at half-time, plundered 11 points at 80 percent in the third term, including the Hawks' last seven points in the last 94 seconds of the quarter, comprising consecutive muscled drives to the hoop and a nonchalant triple to give Wollongong a handy 59-51 lead at the final change.
Opening the final term in spritely fashion, the Sixers, through Ballinger and Groves, gradually ate into the Hawks' advantage before Nathan Herbert, with 5:05 left on the clock, gave Adelaide its first lead of the night when he converted a three-point play to put Adelaide ahead 63-61.
A monster Ballinger three-pointer made it 68-63 to the 36ers with 2:26 left before rival skipper Mat Campbell replied with a quick trey to reduce the margin to two points.
Tragardh scored with 47 seconds left on the clock to tie it at 68 apiece, which would be the final scores at the end of regulation.
The match headed into extra time when Groves missed a pull-up three with 30 seconds left and Tragardh's attempted match-winner at the death rimmed out.
The overtime period saw the lead change hands four times before Wollongong held the lead for good after a Tragardh bucket with 3:18 remaining.
A Luke Martin turnover with 41 seconds left and with Wollongong up 80-78 gave the 36ers some hope but Brad Hill missed an attempted drive with 30 seconds left.
Saville iced a pair from the charity stripe to make it 82-78 to the Hawks with 0:19 left before Hill was fouled and stepped to the foul line with 0:12 remaining.
He connected on the first but his second missed, however Darren Ng snared the offensive rebound to give Adelaide another chance but Ballinger's desperate triple attempt in the dying moments drew iron.
The Hawks' victory lifts their win-loss ratio to 16-12, while the Sixers slump to 10-18.
Adelaide 36ers 79 (Ballinger 28, Groves 18, Herbert 10, Burston 10)
Wollongong Hawks 82 (Tragardh 24, L. Martin 14, Saville 12)
@ The Dome, 13/02/2010. Crowd: 5973.