East Spotlight | Sea Eagles beat Hawks to send message

Quinn Slazinski again showed the way as the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles made it four NBL1 East wins in-a-row and denied the Illawarra Hawks a 10th on the trot with the 82-77 triumph.

It was first against third on Saturday at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre with Manly Warringah having won three straight to be third while Illawarra remained in top spot having won nine in-a-row.

The Sea Eagles then opened up a nine-point lead in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the night including leading by as much as 13 points in the third term on the way to holding out the Hawks in the finish for the five-point victory.

>> EAST WRAP | MEN'S ROUND 10

>> PINK ROUND ANOTHER SPECIAL MOMENT FOR DONNELLYS

The win is a fourth in-a-row for Manly Warringah as they improve to a 12-3 record with Illawarra suffering just a second loss of the season after playing in last year's Grand Final to now be 11-2.

The Sea Eagles ended the game shooting 42 per cent to the 32 from the Hawks and that's where the major difference in the game was by the finish.

Quinn Slazinski continues to be the standout performer on a Sea Eagles team now looking to break into the top two after four straight wins. He delivered another 23 points, nine rebounds and two assists.

Isaiah Lee had all of his 16 points in the first half while also finishing with seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks while Emmanuel Tshimanga added 15 points, nine boards and three blocked shots.

Jamie Munro added 10 points and three rebounds, Jack Giddens 10 points, six boards and two assists, and Oliver Hammond seven points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Todd Blanchfield produced another 24 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals with 4/10 three-point shooting for Illawarra Hawks while Matt Mims had just the five pints, six rebounds, three assists and two steals despite playing all 40 minutes.

Mohamed Kone ended up with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Mason Peatling 17 points, 14 boards and three assists, and Philip Dopud eight points and four rebounds.

Both teams deservedly have championship aspirations this season and were on winning runs coming into the Saturday match up and it was the Sea Eagles who had the better of the start opening up a nine-point lead in the first quarter.

But by quarter-time that lead was back to just one and then it was 24 points to 21 in the second term in favour of Manly Warringah to see them go into the main break leading 44-40.

Isaiah Lee already had 16 points at the half for the Sea Eagles with Quinn Slazinski adding another 10 while Todd Blanchfield had 15 points for the Hawks with Mason Peatling contributing nine points and nine rebounds.

Manly Warringah again got out to a handy lead and it grew to as much as 13 points in the third quarter and by three quarter-time they were still on top 61-51 while holding the potent Hawks to just 11 points on 4/21 shooting in the third term.

The Sea Eagles went on with the job from there and held out Illawarra for the five-point victory for their fourth straight win and deny the Hawks a 10th in-a-row.

The Sea Eagles will now look to keep their winning form going next Saturday on the road to the Newcastle Falcons with the Hawks trying to hit back when they back up on Sunday at home to the Bankstown Bruins.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 11

MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 82 (Slazinski 23, Lee 16, Tshimanga 15)

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 77 (Blanchfield 24, Kone 19, Peatling 17)