The tone was set in the opening period as the Wildcats hit the first nine free throws, with Tyler Harvey, Jackson Ball and Will Hickey quickly picking up two fouls for the Hawks.
Illawarra played catch up the rest of the way and outside of a 15-4 second-quarter burst, consisting of five three-pointers from former Perth duo Wani Swaka Lo Buluk and Todd Blanchfield, the Wildcats maintained some measure of control.
They raced out to a 14-point lead in the third period, but the Hawks kept going and three balls from Hickey (two), Blanchfield and Johny Narkle kept it interesting.
It’s a big win for the Wildcats as they improve to 15-10, just behind fourth-placed Melbourne United with six of their last eight games at the RAC Arena.
Kristian Doolittle had another strong showing in Perth with 21 points and 11 rebounds, with Jo Lual-Acuil Jr adding 20 points and seven boards, Ben Henshall 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and Dylan Windler 11 points and 10 boards.
The Hawks’ championship defense hangs in the balance at 8-16 with their third straight loss in the eighth as they sorely missed the added scoring punch of ailing sharpshooter QJ Peterson.
Sam Froling (six points, five rebounds) and JaVale McGee (8 points, 14 rebounds) had a limited impact to lead Blanchfield with 16 points, Hickey 14 (seven assists, five rebounds), Swaka Lo Buluk 13 and Tyler Harvey 11 (six assists).
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