Following a poor loss to the Razorbacks yesterday, the WheelKings had a great start to the match against the Roller Hawks with Jeremy Van Asperen making 7 of 8 field goals for 16 points in the first term. Koen Jansens was also on fire with 4 of 5 from the field. Wenty were shooting 72% and playing some sold defence too. Jeremy Doyle was doing a great job in particular, running down the Hawks on their fastbreaks and preventing easy baskets. Wenty were looking sharp and went into the first break with a healthy 10 point lead.

As usually happens, the team with the hot hand cools down as the game progresses. Jeremy was troubled by his injured shoulder and took just 2 shots in the second quarter. Koen kept the scoreboard ticking over but he wasn't as efficient as he was in the first quarter, and an injury to his hand from the previous day's game was starting to bother him. Meanwhile, the Hawks came storming back to lead by 1 as half-time approached.

It was here that an early turning point in the game occurred. With 7 seconds left in the half, Jeremy was fouled as he took a shot and therefore earned 2 free-throw attempts. At the same time, the Roller Hawks bench was assessed with a technical foul for disputing the referee's call too vigorously. This gave the WheelKings a further 2 shots to be taken by Koen and then possession of the ball at halfway. Needless to say, all 4 attempts were missed and the WheelKings failed to convert on the subsequent possession. With 6 or 7 points gone begging, the Roller Hawks kept their narrow lead going into the major break.

The third quarter could be dubbed the Tristan Knowles Showtime Spectacular! Midway through the term he had a triple double (27/10/11) and was pretty much doing whatever he liked. He racked up 17 points for the quarter as Wollongong outscored Wenty 33-18 and went into the final period brimming with confidence - and holding a 16 point lead.

The under-strength WheelKings were showing clear signs of fatigue after a tough, physical battle against the Razorbacks the day before. With just 7 players available, Coach Cox was struggling to find a healthy 5 to put on court. Chris Nicholls had already played nearly 30 minutes in his second game in 18 hours, and that was without having trained or played in months! It's a great credit to him that he came in at the 11th hour when it was realised the team would be struggling for player numbers on the weekend.

Even though the WheelKings had every excuse to give up, they kept on surging. Craig Cannane was extremely vocal in urging his teammates on. Koen Jansens picked up a triple double as Wenty got within 12 points with 6 minutes to go, but they simply ran out of gas and couldn't sustain the pressure needed for the comeback.

Overall, it was a tremendously entertaining game with plenty of drama and an amazing performance by Knowles. The Wheelkings can take heart from the match knowing that when healthy and at full strength, they'll give the Roller Hawks a better run next time.

WheelKings:
Van Asperen - 31 points @ 61%, 11 rebounds
Jansens - triple double 26 pts, 11 rebs, 12 assists
Cannane - 13 pts, 7 rebs
Simon - 11 pts, 8 rebs
 
Roller Hawks:
Knowles - 47 pts @ 58% including 4 of 7 three-pointers, 15 rebs, 15 assists
Stibners - 23 pts @ 71%, 9 rebs
Jesus Martin -11 pts