A powerful new Ilavra line-up overcame a slow start to defeat the Sydney Kings team, who were flattened by a potentially serious injury to import guard RJ Hunter at Wollongong.
The Kings (3-4) scored the first 11 points of the game on Wednesday night and scored another 11-0, but Ilavra struggled for a 97-89 win,
Ilavra took 56 percent off the ground and scored 10 unanswered points in a decisive five-minute bounce in the final quarter.
Down the stretch, Hawks coach Brian Gorjian opted to go with one big and four minors in Sam Froling after trying out that formation in the club's latest hiatus in his stop-start campaign.
Ilavra (4–1) was playing his first match in 25 days and Sydney played his first in 19.
Usually limited to only six points by Hawks leading center duo Reith, Froling made the move, posting 27 points, the highest score by any man in his iconic basketball family in 437 NBL games.
Import guard Tyler Harvey, who had not scored the first quarter shot in the Hawks' first four games, broke that duck and foiled his first six three-point attempts en route to a 23-point run.
Javier Rattan-Mayes added 16 points and seven boards and the Hawks had a bit more firepower for their inter-state rivals, especially as Gurjian turned to his new line-up.
"It was a line-up that we had never played in (before) four games and that was four little guys who had either Sam or Duop," Gurjian said.
"Sam was having a great performance tonight so we went with him and four smalls in the fourth quarter and he was really a game changer.
"With Justinian (Jessup) and AC (Antonius Cleveland) bringing Tyler (Harvey) and Xavier to the floor, it was a really tough line-up and it was a really turning point and that led to the win."
The Kings' quick start was weakened by another knee problem for Hunter, who played only two games in the season.
He logged only 59 seconds on Wednesday, before his knee was sprained and he was kicked off the court.
"I feel for him, I don't want to speculate about what happened but it sounds serious," Kings coach Chase Buford said.
Sydney's other returning backcourt import included Jaylen Adams contributing 14 points and eight assists in her first game with an ankle injury that limited her to only one previous appearance.
Doubles Xavier Cook (16 and 14) from frontcourt legend Jarrell Martin (23 points and 10 rebounds) led Sydney's offense and guard Wani Swaka Lo Buluk made his strong start to the campaign with a career-high 17-point effort. continued.
"The only run for which we really had no answer was the last one," Buford said.
"He kicked our butt in the last three or four minutes of the game.
"He shot all night and then he executed the stretch and we certainly didn't, such a big credit to the Hawks for his finish."