Jonathan Healy at Vodafone Arena
The South Dragons have made it two wins on the trot with a 115-108 victory over the Wollongong Hawks at Vodafone Arena on Sunday afternoon.
After a tight first half the Dragons outscored their opponents 32-21 in the third term to put the result beyond doubt, before holding off a late rally from the Hawks in the final term to register the victory.
Joe Ingles was outstanding for the Dragons, the reigning rookie of the year hitting 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, while also dishing out 10 assists in a man of the match performance.
Team-mate Cortez Groves nailed three long bombs on his way to 21 points against his former team, while import Bakari Hendirx impressed once again with 19 points and seven rebounds in his second game
Kavossy Franklin top-scored for the Hawks with 24 points, while new import Angelo Reyes was good in his first game for the visitors with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
In-form big man Cameron Tragardh hit 12 points for the Hawks, but was forced off the court in the third quarter with an injury after copping a knock on a defensive rebound.
The teams exchanged baskets early on, a reverse dunk from Ingles the highlight of an opening period that saw honours shared (26-26) at quarter time.
Groves and Ingles found some form during the second term, the pair combining for 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting during the quarter as the Dragons edged ahead 58-56 at the main break.
Two consecutive threes from Heal put the Dragons up by seven early in the third and another two long bombs from Brent Hobba off the bench made sure the home side was in the box seat (90-77) at the final change.
Five straight points to the Hawks to start the final term gave the visitors hope, and a three from Franklin with 70 second remaining reduced the margin to four, but the Dragons held on to pick up their second win in the HUMMER Championship NBL
South Dragons 115 (Ingles 25, Groves 21, Hendrix 19)
Wollongong Hawks 108 (Franklin 24, Reyes 18, Castle 12, Tragardh 12)
@Vodafone Arena. Crowd: 4512.