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Live sport on SN this weekendHawks hammer 36ers in NBL boilover
Steve Barrett, AAP • October 3rd, 2026 7:48 am
Kelan Martin was on fire as Illawarra scored a comfortable NBL win over Adelaide | Photo: Martin Keep/AAP
The Illawarra Hawks have strolled to their first win of the NBL campaign, walloping the Adelaide 36ers 114-92 in the biggest upset of the season.
Import Kelan Martin (28 points, 5-of-7 three-pointers) and centre Sam Froling (19 points, 13 rebounds) starred as Illawarra romped to a whopping 30-point halftime lead at Wollongong's WIN Entertainment Centre on Friday night, before cruising home.
Bryce Cotton scored 15 points for the Sixers, but was limited to a paltry four field-goal attempts, hounded relentlessly by Wani Swaka Lo Buluk's defence.
"It's a good thing when the ball goes in and you finally get some rebounds," Hawks coach Justin Tatum said.
"I'm really happy with my group."
Kelan Martin led the way with 28 points for the Hawks, who had the win sewn up by halftime | Photo: Martin Keep/AAP
Illawarra used an early 11-0 burst to assume control, hitting 6-of-9 three-pointers en route to a 35-21 buffer.
Somehow, it grew even more lopsided in the second term, in which the Hawks obliterated the 36ers 30-14 to streak ahead 65-35.
A staggering five Illawarra players had double-digit scoring tallies by halftime - led by Martin - while Harvey and Hickey already had five assists apiece.
The Hawks had 19 assists to zero turnovers by the main break, were dominating the boards 28-16, and held Adelaide to 3-of-21 from downtown.
It was men against boys stuff.
"That's the greatest half of basketball I've ever seen the Illawarra Hawks play," said the foundation club's 2001 championship-winning great Damon Lowery on ESPN commentary.
Unsung Keanu Rasmussen led the first Sixers rally of the evening as they avoided total embarrassment by winning the third quarter 32-27 to reduce the deficit to a still imposing 92-67 at the final break.
Illawarra's lead blew out to 32 early in the fourth before Adelaide coach Trevor Gleeson called a rare five-in, five-out substitution, bringing in the whole 36ers' bench, who minimised some of the damage down the stretch.
"I just didn't like how we didn't fight hard enough," Gleeson fumed.
"Really disappointed with the brand that we put out there. It looked like a men's team playing against a kids' team out there."
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