Thursday night saw the Hawks head to Romford for an early tip off against Bower Park Bucks. The game started in a similar pattern to the majority of games this season with the Hawks falling behind early. The Bucks opened up a 7-0 run to start the game. With the Hawks struggling to find an early rhythm from the get go. The Hawks opened their scoring with a 3 from Niaz, scores from Allan and Norkeliunas kept the rhythm for the side however turnovers and another streak for the Bucks see the first quarter close 25-12. The Bucks shot extremely well in the first quarter and throughout the first quarter hitting well above 60% of their shots.
The second quarter see a change in the Hawks fortune. The defensive intensity picked up as the Hawks started communicating much better and started to cut out some of the turnovers that plagued the first quarter. However for every small streak that the Hawks started the Bucks had a reply continuing to shoot well. Strong post moves from Haddow gave him a couple of easy scores, with Hawkins also scoring well this quarter. Unfortunately the Hawks still went into the half down, even after White blocked a dunk at the rim to stop a quick play from the Bower Park side. The second quarter ended 42 – 27.
After a stern talk from Niaz at the half the Hawks came out fired up. Defensive intensity became the focus of the second half from the Hawks, the increase in effort stemmed the strong offense that the Bucks had in the first half. With them now finding themselves turning the ball over a lot more than in the first half. Hawks capitalised on this to close the gap. At one point having the difference as close as 8. Scores from Hawkins, Niaz and White fuelled the comeback. The 3rd quarter finished 63-49.
The Hawks showed their biggest spirit in the final quarter. Continually chipping away at the score to bring down the deficit. Niaz led scoring in this quarter with some big threes to keep it close. However a couple of late turnovers with 2 minutes left on the clock see the Bucks stretch the lead back to double digits and ultimately end the Hawks chance of a comeback. The game finished 86-75 to the Bucks.
Written By – Tom White
