East Finals | Hawks book home preliminary final

Featured image: Rob Sheeley/@robshots

The Illawarra Hawks hit 10 three-pointers in the first half and then dominated the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles further after half-time for the emphatic 86-65 NBL1 East qualifying final win at home on Saturday night.

The two teams had been locked in a fight over a top four position all season and the Hawks ended up with a second straight regular season championship at 16-4 while the Sea Eagles ended up in fourth place at 14-6.

That set them to play off for a preliminary final spot on Saturday night in Wollongong with Illawarra getting the better of the start with 23 points to 14 in the opening quarter.

The Hawks opened up a 14-point lead in the second quarter and were still clinging to the 46-39 advantage going into the half-time interval.

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Illawarra were shooting well going 10/21 from the outside across the first half highlighted by 4/5 from Mohamed Kone who had 14 points with Mason Peatling adding 12.

Manly Warringah were only going 3/12 from deep but 13/21 inside the arc to stay in touch with Quinn Slazinski having 11 points and Emmanuel Tshimanga eight to go with eight rebounds.

Illawarra pulled away once more opening up a 17-point lead in the third quarter and then the lead got out to 23 in fourth and by holding the Sea Eagles to seven points in the final term, the Hawks completed the 21-point victory.

The Hawks ended up outscoring the Sea Eagles 40 points to 26 after half-time on the back of shooting 16/39 from the field and 5/21 from deep, so they didn’t catch fire themselves, but did hold their opponents to shooting 8/23 overall and 2/8 from downtown along with having 11 turnovers in the second half.

Illawarra got up an extra 18 shots for the game on the back of having just five turnovers to the 17 from the Sea Eagles to book in a home preliminary in two weeks' time.

Mason Peatling provided 24 points, seven rebounds, five steals, four assists and two blocked shots for the Hawks with Mohamed Kone adding 21 points, six boards, four assists and two steals with 5/9 shooting from the outside.

Matt Mims also had 18 points and three assists, Todd Blanchfield 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and Judah Kami six points and two assists.

The Sea Eagles still get a second chance as a result of their top four finish and they will be at home to the Central Coast Crusaders next Sunday afternoon.

Quinn Slazinski finished with 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals for Manly Warringah with Jamie Munro adding 16 points and three boards, Emmanuel Tshimanga 10 points and nine rebounds, and Isaiah Lee seven points, six boards and five assists.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | QUALIFYING FINAL

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 86 (Peatling 24, Kone 21, Mims 18)

MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 65 (Munro 16, Slazinski 16, Tshimanga 10)