Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
The Tasmania JackJumpers have racked their highest score and consolidated second spot on the NBL ladder with a clinical 122-112 victory over the bottom-placed Illawarra Hawks.
Classy import David Johnson poured in 32 points in less than 18 minutes off the bench at Wollongong’s WIN Entertainment Centre on Friday night, shooting 9-of-10 from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point range.
Josh Bannan added 25 for the JackJumpers, whose final winning margin flattered the Hawks, who won the last quarter 39-30.
“We played pretty well for three quarters, then had a miserable fourth quarter, which was very, very unacceptable by us,” Tasmania coach Scott Roth said.
“But we did enough work in those first three quarters to give us a bit of a cushion.”
Kelan Martin (23 points), Milton Doyle (20) and Will Hickey (20) led the way for Illawarra, whose co-captain Tyler Harvey was held to two points, playing just three minutes in the third term and sitting out the entire fourth.
After honours were relatively even early, the JackJumpers unleashed a 21-2 onslaught either side of quarter-time to gallop ahead 43-22.
Illawarra closed the gap to 49-38, before Tasmania produced another 8-0 run and finished the second quarter with all the momentum to lead 67-47 at halftime.
Scoring wasn’t an issue for the Hawks, but their horrific defensive frailties were laid bare by the JackJumpers, particularly bench duo Johnson and Ben Gold.
Tasmania hit a scorching 23-of-32 from the floor in the first half, including 9-of-15 three-pointers.
It was more of the same after the long break as Johnson buried three more threes without a miss – two of them inexcusably wide open – to stretch the Jackies’ cushion to 78-51.
“I’m five-on, five-off at this stage,” NBL legend Lanard Copeland said on ESPN commentary on what Illawarra should do.
“I’m bringing five guys off the bench who want to play defence.”
The Hawks didn’t resort to that drastic substituting measure, but they did close to 91-73 at three-quarter time, largely through the exploits of Martin and Hickey.
Johnson extended Tasmania’s buffer to 112-90, before Illawarra responded with a late 17-4 rally to minimise some of the damage.
“It was just a tough day in the office for us,” Hawks coach Justin Tatum said.
“Our team defence has to get better.
“I’m happy for the guys who have scoring ability, but we’ve got to find a way to get stops.”
