Campbell Gets Ideal 400th Result

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday January 26, 2008

By TIM KEEBLE

FOR a while there, Wollongong captain Mat Campbell feared his 400th NBL game was going to end in misery.

That was before team-mate Kavossy Franklin answered the bell in typically courageous fashion. The Hawks led almost all the way in last night's home clash with the South Dragons, only to fall behind by a point with a minute to play.

But just like Michael Jordan used to tell everyone to give him the ball and get out of the way, Franklin took over and calmly sank a game-winning three-pointer.

"When we were coming down the stretch and I saw the lead dwindling away, I thought 'Come on boys, get me over the line, make it a good night', and when they hit the front I was a little worried," Campbell said. "But when you've got someone like Kavossy, I was always pretty confident he'd be able to create something out there. He's a big-time player and it was a big-time shot."

The Hawks held a comfortable lead throughout the first quarter and appeared to be on course for a big win.

"I've played this game long enough to know that any win is a good win," Wollongong coach Eric Cooks said.

"We let ourselves down in the fourth quarter, probably the whole second half really. We didn't play with the intensity and defensive awareness we needed to. Overall our defence was pretty good, but when we did break our rules we paid for it. It was good to win a close game and I got a lot of positives out of it."

Injured Dragons captain-coach Shane Heal is said to be under pressure to keep his job after his team slipped to 4-21.

Meanwhile, Perth staged an upset in Brisbane last night with a 105-95 triumph.

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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