
The energy of Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Antonius Cleveland sparked a striking Illawarra comeback, as the Hawks regained an NBL top-four spot with a 83-77 road win over South East Melbourne Phoenix.
Earlier on Sunday, Sydney beat Cairns to go fourth, but that lasted just a couple of hours, as the Hawks produced what coach Brian Goorjian agreed was their best performance of an inconsistent campaign.