Hawks cruise to victory against N. Colorado Univ.

The Wollongong NRE Hawks cruised to a 87-63 victory over the Northern Colorado Bears Sunday afternoon in front of another great crowd at the Snakepit, the spiritual home of basketball in the Illawarra.

The Hawks had five players score in double-digits with both Dave Gruber and Oscar Forman leading with 16 points a piece.

It was a physical encouter lead by Northern Colorado to start the game, and that physicality continued throughout the game with some near altercations between the two sides.

After a scrappy first quarter, the Hawks jumped to a 17-14 lead on the back of great energy and hustle off the bench by Dave Gruber, including a huge slam which got the Snakepit crowd pumping late in the quarter.

Northern Colorado got into early foul trouble in the second quarter and within four minutes they were in team fouls. The Hawks extended the lead to 24-16 on the back of some nice free throw shooting.

The Hawks took a 39-28 lead into the half on the back of Glen Saville distributing the ball with ease to Demos, Forman and Gruber.

Rhys Martin took the game over in the third quarter scoring eight points and finding open players for easy shots. He finished the game with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

After three quarters of play the Hawks were in front 60-45. Fourth quarter started with Oscar Forman and Larry Davidson taking over, within two minutes of play the lead was out to 21 points on the back of triples by both Hawks bigs.

With six minutes to go in the game, UNCO Bears Coach was ejected after receiving his second technical foul of the game, after he continued challenging the officials on the sidelines. His exit from the game didn’t help his side as the Hawks continued to light the scoreboard on fire, extending the lead to a game high 30 points with a few minutes left of action.

Gordie McLeod cleared the bench and put the young Illawarra locals on the floor in the final few minutes to get some game action in front of their home town crowd. At the final buzzer the game was over 87-63, a comfortable win for the Wollongong NRE Hawks.

Oscar Forman finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds, Dave Gruber had 16 points, Glen Saville had a complete performance with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

In the backcourt the Hawks were lead by Rhys Martin and Tyson Demos who finished with 12 points and 3 assists.
Courtesy: nbl.com.au