East Spotlight | Hawks overcome Gunners in OT

Featured image: Rob Sheeley/@robshots

It was the second NBL1 East Grand Final rematch and the Illawarra Hawks got one back on the Canberra Gunners and needed overtime to do it with Todd Blanchfield and Matt Mims both scoring 27 points in the 102-93 win.

After playing in last year's thrilling NBL1 East Grand Final, Canberra also beat Illawarra earlier this season at home on their banner raising night, but the Hawks haven't lost since then.

They were back home at The Snakepit on Saturday night on an eight-game winning streak while the Gunners were still missing Glenn Morison but were fresh off two wins against the Centre of Excellence last Thursday and Friday nights to get their title defence back on track.

Illawarra then started on fire with 30 points to 16 in the first quarter with 11 of those points from Mims but Canberra worked back into the contest and by three quarter-time were leading by a point.

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Eventually it was three clutch free throws late from Will Rice that drew Canberra level again with Illawarra and got the game to overtime, but in the extra period it was all the Hawks with them scoring the first nine points to win by that margin.

The victory is a ninth in-a-row for Illawarra as they improve to an 11-1 record in top spot while Canberra are now 10-4 and having lost four of their last six matches.

Matt Mims had a hot start and then had a crucial run late in the fourth quarter on his way to 27 points and seven assists while reigning MVP Todd Blanchfield had another 27 points, 21 rebounds and three assists.

Mohamed Kone added 17 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals, and Mason Peatling 14 points, nine boards and three assists.

Will Mayfield produced another 23 points, eight rebounds and two assists for Canberra with DJ Hoskins adding 23 points and four assists with both shooting 4/8 from three-point territory.

Evan Wardlow also had 12 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals, Will Rice 12 points and five boards, Cameron Pender nine points and 12 rebounds, and Ed Bigg-Wither eight points, eight boards and two steals.

Canberra were coming off the two wins over the Centre of Excellence last week coming into the Grand Final rematch with a Hawks team with a chip on their shoulder and having won eight straight this season.

It was a fast start from Illawarra with 30 points to 16 in the first quarter with Matt Mims having 11 points on his own from 3/5 three-point shooting while the Gunners shot at just 33 per cent in the opening 10 minutes.

But Canberra managed to work back into the contest in the second frame with 30 points to 23 on the back of shooting 11/20 from the field with 4/6 from downtown while also taking better care of the ball with just one turnover.

They also forced the Hawks into five turnovers and limited them to shooting 9/20 from the floor and by half-time Illawarra were just clinging to the 53-46 advantage.

The Gunners kept that momentum going into the third quarter and they outscored the Hawks 26 points to 18 while again shooting impressively with 10/17 from the field and 3/4 from beyond the arc.

That saw the Gunners leading 72-71 by three quarter-time with Will Mayfield and DJ Hoskins both up to 20 points for the reigning champions while Todd Blanchfield had 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks.

It was then a rollercoaster ride of a final quarter and Mims hit three straight buckets inside the last two minutes to turn a three-point deficit for Illawarra into a three-point lead.

Then up the other end, Will Rice was fouled for Canberra attempting a three and he stepped up to hit them to level scores up and that ended up sending the game to overtime with the scores locked at 89-89.

It then took the Gunners almost four minutes to score in the extra period and by that stage Illawarra had already piled on nine points on the way to winning by that margin for a ninth straight victory to remain clear in top spot of the NBL1 East.

The Hawks will now take on the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles on the road next Saturday with Canberra having a quick turnaround to take on the Sutherland Sharks on Sunday.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 10

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 102 (Mims 27, Blanchfield 17, Kone 17)

CANBERRA GUNNERS 93 (Hoskins 23, Mayfield 23, Rice 12, Wardlow 12)