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ILLAWARRA's Hawks burst from the doldrums to bury a disappointing Adelaide before Kristian Doolittle tickled a triple-double as Perth reversed its first round home loss to South East Melbourne with a hard-fought four-point win last night in Round 3 NBL action, the officiating marginally better.

Of course, you only have to ask Hawks stalwart Dan Grida what he thought of the officials after how his tech foul came about, or Illawarra fans generally in what they thought of Bryce Cotton's 11-of-11 free throws, considering he additionally was restricted to 2-of-4 shooting and zero 3-point attempts.

Even Kendric Davis and Chris Goulding were shaking their heads at how he repeatedly made it to the line.

At home for the first time after going 0-of-3 on the road, Illawarra fulfilled the much-criticised optimisim of coach Justin Tatum with a devastating opening that ensured this could only end one way.

A deadly early 3-point barrage after Sam Froling (19 points, 13 rebounds) got the ball rolling inside, saw Kelan Martin, Milton Doyle (2), Dan Grida, Tyler Harvey (2) storm Illawarra out to a 35-point first quarter for a 21-point response from the title favourites.

Revelling in their home support and growing in confidence with every successful foray - the Hawks shot 54 per cent from the floor while connecting on 15-of-31 threes - Illawarra was at its very best.

In contrast, the 36ers saw Cotton shut down, Zylan Cheatham reluctant offensively, Nick Rakocevic petulant and John Jenkins missing solid open looks, while Jacob Rigoni also did not make the most of his opportunities. Deonte Williams scored a career-high 12 points but the stat that stood out belonged to Illawarra import Martin with 28 points at 71 per cent, including 5-of-7 threes.

The statline that stood out in Perth belonged to Doolittle who had 22 points at 58 per cent, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and a steal, the Wildcats doing a 180-degree turn from their 79-100 home loss to South East in Round 1.

Elijah Pepper and Anthony Dell'Orso added 25 and 22 points respectively as the Wildcats took full advantage of the Phoenix's imability to consistently pose an offensive threat.

They created sufficient open shots, just didn't knock them down, Nathan Sobey 0-of-8 from beyond the arc, Tanner Krebs 0-of-5 and all from long range, D'Shawn Schwartz becoming increasingly shy.

Akech Aliir, Dash Daniels and Angus Glover offered solid support from the bench but Perth, down Jo Lual-Acuil and with Brandon Knight ill, still had too many efficient weapons.

Round 3 Results, Friday

Illawarra Hawks 114 (Martin 28, Froling 19, Doyle 13, Hickey 12, Harvey 11; Froling 13 rebs; Hickey, Doyle, Harvey 7 assts) d Adelaide 36ers 92 (Cotton 15, Jenkins 13, Williams 12, Rasmussen, Cheatham 11; Rakocevic 11 rebs; Cotton 7 assts) at WIN Entertainment Centre.

Perth Wildcats 92 (Pepper 25, Dell'Orso, Doolittle 22, Windler 14; Windler 9 rebs; Doolittle 8 assts) d South East Melbourne Phoenix 88 (Mays 17, Aliir, Daniels 13, Sobey 12, Hunter, Glover 11; Daniels 7 rebs; Sobey 8 assts) at RAC Arena.

Saturday: Tasmania at Brisbane, Cairns at Melbourne