Oscar Forman delivered a game-high 29 points to lead the Hawks to an 80-64 win over NBL leaders New Zealand Breakers in Wollongong on Saturday night.
The Hawks snapped the defending champions five-game winning run.
Forman poured in 21 points in the first half and finished with a perfect 7-of-7 clip from long-range.
Both teams were in blistering form from long-distance, combining for a total of 19-of-44, but the Breakers were broken down by the Hawks’ stifling defence in a 16-8 final quarter.
Gary Wilkinson led New Zealand with 16 points, while Daryl Corletto, Cedric Jackson and Thomas Abercrombie each added 12.
The Hawks claimed the opening period 20-14 with Forman providing 10 points, he and Corletto duelling from long-range with four consecutive three-pointers between them.
Forman kept a hot hand in the second, knocking down a pair of vital triples, the second cutting a 6-0 Breakers run and giving the Hawks a seven-point buffer (35-28).
Moments later Forman drained his fifth three-pointer and consecutive buckets by Catron gave the Hawks a 42-32 half-time lead.
CJ Bruton snatched the last points of the half with a runner, ending a rare 20-minute phase that saw the Breakers on the wrong side of a 10-2 turnover count.
Jackson looked to reverse the turnover trend in the third, stealing the ball on the first possession for a breakaway slam as the Breakers scored the first five.
Demos entered the game after Ayinde Ubaka was called for his third foul and sank back-to-back threes to spark a 9-0 Hawks run.
The Hawks led by as many as 12 and absorbed 15 combined points from Abercrombie and Wilkinson to hold a 64-56 advantage heading into the fourth.
Wollongong rode a 5-0 start to the final period, eating almost five minutes off the clock before their backcourt combo of Ubaka and Rhys Martin steered them to victory.
The upsets continued as Townsville (11-9) missed a chance to regain third spot from Gold Coast and slipped to fifth below Cairns, with a 79-74 loss away to last-placed Adelaide (6-15).
Centre Daniel Johnson scored 20 points and Darren Ng and Diamon Simpson both tallied 19 for Adelaide, who broke their six-match losing streak.
