The Wollongong Roller Hawks have made short work of the Adelaide Thunder dispatching them in two 50 plus point wins in their Round 5 match up.
The Roller Hawks defeated the Thunder 84-29 on Saturday and 76-22 on Sunday.
It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Thunder but the league newcomers would have felt good after the opening quarter of Saturday’s game when they only trailed 16-21.
But from there the Roller Hawks defensive intensity kicked up a gear and Adelaide were restricted to single digit quarters for the remainder of the game.
It was a similar story in Sunday’s return bout as the Thunder were down 10-20 after one quarter but failed to score in double figures for the remaining three quarters.
Adelaide have been on the end of some big losses this season as they struggle to adjust to top level competition and whilst Wollongong didn’t rack up any of the biggest scores of the season, they have limited the Thunder to their three lowest scores of the year when you include the sides’ first matchup in round 1, a 66-24 win to the Roller Hawks,.
Despite the fact the Roller Hawks continue to have the best defensive record in the league, the group isn’t resting on their laurels.
“There were little defensive lapses every few possessions so it’s something to work on for the next week before we take on Perth who will take advantage of them,” said Roller Hawks big man Michael Auprince after the game.
Auprince had a season high 30 points and 15 rebounds on Sunday to back up 17 points and 14 rebounds he had on Saturday.
The Thunder had no answers for Auprince who again shot at 75% from the field for the weekend.
“Brendan has a few more plays designed to get me easy shots under the basket,” said Auprince.
“It’s always easy when you know the ball is going to be thrown to you in the right positions so all I have to do is catch and shoot.”
Brett Stibners scored a triple double in Sunday’s game and averaged 22.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 8 assists across the two games.
Nick Taylor (16 points, 6.5 assists per game) and Luke Pople (13 points, 7 rebounds, 10.5 assists per game) also chimed in with impressive numbers.
The Roller Hawks attention now turns to Round 6 where they take on Perth, the team that knocked them out of last year’s finals series.
The Roller Hawks fell victim to an outstanding shooting display from Shaun Norris during last year’s Preliminary Final with the Australian representative knocking down 5 three pointers from 7 attempts in the opening half.
It was too much for the Roller Hawks to contend with after already missing Auprince through injury.
The three games have been moved from Shellharbour City Stadium to the Snake Pit at Beaton Park.
ROLLER HAWKS ROUND 6 GAMES
Friday July 7: ROLLER HAWKS vs WHEELCATS - 7:00pm @ Snake Pit, Beaton Park
Saturday July 9: ROLLER HAWKS vs WHEELCATS - 6:00pm @ Snake Pit, Beaton Park
Sunday July 9: ROLLER HAWKS vs WHEELCATS - 11:00am @ Snake Pit, Beaton Park