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Illawarra Hawks vs Melbourne United NBL: Hawks win 82-73

6th November, 2016
Tip off: 3pm (AEDT)
Venue: WIN Entertainment Centre
TV: Live, SBS and Fox Sports

Illawarra Hawks - Rotnei Clarke, Tim Coenraad, Cody Ellis, Oscar Forman (c), Angus Glover, Marvelle Harris, Michael Holyfield, Luke Jamieson, Nick Kay, Rhys Martin (c), Mitch Norton, Andrew Ogilvy, Tony Tolovae, Kevin White

Melbourne United - David Andersen (c), David Barlow, Todd Blanchfield, Chris Goulding, Cedric Jackson, Bennie Lewis, Majok Majok, Ramone Moore, Owen Odigie, Nate Tomlinson, Tai Wesley, Devin Williams
(Chris Pike)
Roar Guru
6th November, 2016
111

Match result:

The Hawks got their season back on track with a resilient victory over Melbourne United. Nicholas Kay stood out with 15 points and 5 rebounds as the Hawks finally got off the bottom of the NBL ladder. David Andersen impressed with 23 points in the loss.

Final score
Illawarra Hawks 82
Melbourne United 73

Match preview:

Illawarra Hawks will be looking to pull themselves off the bottom of the table when they host Melbourne United at WIN Entertainment Centre. Join The Roar from 3pm (AEDT) for live coverage.

The Hawks haven’t been on the court since falling 98-83 at the hands of the Cairns Taipans in Wollongong.

A 19-point haul from import Marvelle Harris wasn’t enough to pull the Hawks over the line. The Rob Beveridge coached outfit struggled with their conversions bagging juts 31/67 (46 per cent) in yet another dour occasion from the 3-point line sinking just 3 from 17 attempts.

Their lack of three-point shooters could come back to haunt them given United’s red-hot form from range.

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The key will be to contain the dynamic Cedric Jackson and keep Tai Wesley quiet.

AJ Ogilvy must step up in rebounds against United’s big man Majok Majok, the forward-center pulling in 11 rebounds in their loss to the Breakers 98-92 on Friday.

New Zealand veteran Alex Pledger proved too good for Melbourne who were unable to come up with the win at home seeing them slide down to second last on the table after five rounds.

Pledger scored 20 points in addition to his 10 rebounds, dominating on offense and keeping David Andersen quiet.

These two teams last clashed in Round 2 when United came away with a 12-point, 88-72 victory following a Todd Blanchfield masterclass.

It is the only encounter between United and the Hawks so far in 2016-17.

Both sides are in serious need of this win – despite featuring in the post-season earlier this year, they have begun this season poorly, and are currently the bottom two teams on the table.

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United have a 3-5 record and while only a handful of teams are doing better than them in turns of wins, they’ve played more games than most and haven’t been keeping their ledger even.

The Hawks with a 2-5 record are uncomfortably well behind the pace of the competition.

Prediction
Melbourne will edge past the Hawks in a close encounter.

United by 5.

Join The Roar from 3pm (AEDT) for live score updates and debate in our live blog.

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