QJ Peterson has poured in 42 points off the bench as Illawarra survived a fourth-quarter meltdown to notch a wild 113-109 overtime NBL win over South East Melbourne.
The Hawks led by 20 points midway through the third term and 74-61 at three-quarter time at Wollongong's WIN Entertainment Centre on Thursday night, before the Phoenix unleashed a 32-19 fourth period to send the game into extra time.
The teams traded buckets in the extension before Peterson took over with 12 points in the extension to see Illawarra home.
The American hit 16-of-25 in his career-best haul, while JaVale McGee paired 29 points with 13 rebounds.
"It was not how we planned on doing it, but I'm really proud of how my team fought through it and how we started the game," Hawks coach Justin Tatum said.
"We understand we've got a lot of things to clean up, but the gutsy win was huge for my group.''
Wes Iwundu (22 points) and captain Nathan Sobey (19) led the Phoenix's remarkable surge.
Implausibly, SEM racked up 27 more field-goal attempts, 40 more three-point attempts (the Phoenix launched a 40-minute record 58 attempts from long range), 17 more offensive rebounds (27-10) and 15 fewer turnovers (9-24).
Sobey missed his first 11 shots before suddenly catching fire with 14 points in the last 3:14 of regulation.
He put the visitors up by two points late, before missing an off-balance three at the death, with McGee's dunk in the middle levelling the scores.
It was all Peterson early, the import described by NBL legend Andrew Gaze in commentary as "Bryce Cotton-like" as he scored 13 first-quarter points to steer the Hawks to a decisive 31-13 lead at quarter-time.
Illawarra hit a sizzling 24-of-38 from the floor in the first half, compared with SEM's 13-of-46, which included a wayward 5-of-25 from three-point range.
Despite their poor shooting, the Phoenix chiselled their way back into the contest thanks to their defensive scrapping and ability to crash the boards, as well as some self-inflicted Hawks clangers, before Peterson saved the day for the home side.
"You get down 20 on the road, you're not supposed to win the game," SEM coach Josh King said.
"But credit to our guys for sticking in there, fighting and putting themselves in with a great chance to win a game."
