Blaze pulls clutch win
A GRITTY fourth-quarter stand by the Gold Coast Blaze delivered them a much-needed 94-86 road win over the Wollongong Hawks on Friday.
Gold Coast led for the entire third quarter before finding themselves in a desperate shootout late in the fourth, with opposing import guards Ayinde Ubaka and Adris Deleon squaring off.
Deleon scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth to help guide the Blaze home and keep them firmly in the playoff picture, while Ubaka produced a team-high 24 points for the Hawks.
The Hawks had few answers for Gold Coast's frontcourt combination of Mark Worthington (26 points) and Anthony Petrie (19 points), who accounted for 19 of their team's 30-point (13-of-18 shooting) second quarter.
''I thought it was a quality game,'' Blaze coach Joey Wright said.
Read the full match report at the NBL website.
