Champions! Hickey, Kell star as Hawks break 24-year NBL title drought

• The Illawarra Hawks are the 2025 NBL Champions after beating Melbourne United 114-104 in game five at the WIN Entertainment Centre for a 3-2 series win
• William 'Davo' Hickey was named player of the game with 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists
• Illawarra's game five win was the first victory by a home team in the 2025 championship series

The Illawarra Hawks are NBL champions for the first time in 24 years after an offensive explosion led them to a 114-104 win over Melbourne United in the deciding game five at the WIN Entertainment Centre.

William 'Davo' Hickey was named player of the game with 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as the Hawks completed a remarkable transformation from bottom-of-the-ladder when coach Justin Tatum took over to champions 18 months later. Trey Kell III also bounced back in dominant fashion after missing game four with a knee injury with 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

The Hawks are also the first team to come back from a 2-1 series deficit and win the title since the Sydney Kings in 2004.

United's Matthew Dellavedova was named MVP of the championship series, despite being on the losing team, but in a touching moment handed over the award to Hickey.

NBL25 Coach of the Year said Justin Tatum said: "Indescribable feeling, man. Indescribable feeling. I can’t even words — can’t describe.

"I can probably tell you later if you ask me, but right now, to see the enjoyment of the fans and everybody who is originally from Illawarra, you know, who's been waiting for this for 23-plus years, that excites me more than anything. And just being able to see our team fight through adversity, that’s also an enjoyment.

"So like, the words are tough to describe right now. But I’m happy."

Melbourne United head coach Dean Vickerman said: "Congratulations to the Hawks. Congratulations to JT and his coaching staff. They did a hell of a job all year. And then to deal with injuries and the things they dealt with in the final series.

"Kell [Trey Kell] was obviously fantastic today, but what an amazing series from Davo Hickey — close to a triple-double today. Amazing.

"So happy for him."

Melbourne's experience in championship games seemed to shine through in the first quarter with United's first four field goals coming from beyond the arc to jump out to an early lead and heap even more pressure on Illawarra on their home floor.

Ian Clark, using his big game experience having won an NBA Championship with the Golden State Warriors, was more emotional than we'd ever seen him in the NBL, even getting in a confrontation with Illawarra star guard Tyler Harvey and later being called for a technical foul.

The former Sydney King connected on two triples while Jack White and Rob Loe also found their touch from the three-point line to lead the visitors to a 20-10 advantage and force a timeout from Tatum.

Tatum made some key changes to the Illawarra lineup, which had an immediate impact, going small by putting Todd Blanchfield at the power forward position. The change allowed the Hawks to space the floor and get out in transition, ripping through the usually tough Melbourne defence with layups in the open floor to close the gap within minutes.

A fadeaway three from Hyunjung Lee followed by a mid-range jumper from the returning Trey Kell III completed a 16-6 run for Illawarra and levelled scores at 26-all at the first break.

The raucous crowd at WIN Entertainment Centre were on their feet again as Kell made his presence felt, hitting a three-pointer as the Hawks went on a 6-1 run to start the second quarter to lead 34-27 as United coach Dean Vickerman called for time.

As they always do, United responded straight away with Clark continuing his impressive first-half performance while Loe made an impact on the game for the first time this series, hitting his second three to give United back the lead.

But in bad signs for Melbourne, the Hawks offense was clicking better than it had at any other stage in the previous four games with Lachlan Olbrich providing a damaging presence in the paint in the absence of the injured Sam Froling, not just creating for himself, but finding his teammates for open shots. The South Australian product had three assists in the first half, hitting the Hawks shooters, such as Blanchfield for the Hawks to once again put the pressure on United with a 48-43 lead with just three minutes left in the second period.

The trademark United defence was non-existent in the first half, especially in the second quarter, with Melbourne forced to match the small ball lineup for the Hawks but the pace and space Illawarra were able to create was proving too much for Vickerman's team as Wani Swaka Lo Buluk knocked down his second triple of the quarter to extend the lead to 55-48.

Melbourne found their way to the free-throw line down the offensive end but weren't able to capitalise as White's struggles from the charity stripe these playoffs continued as the former Duke University star looked startled. United as a team couldn't make the Hawks pay for fouling, hitting just 13-from-21 at 61% in the first half.

While Illawarra couldn't have been more confident shooting the ball with Blanchfield hitting the home team's sixth three-pointer to close the half and send the Hawks into the halftime break with a commanding 60-50 lead. Kell was impressive in his return from a knee injury with nine points in the first two quarters.

Both teams were lighting it up from beyond the arc in the first half with 13 triples between them, but the Hawks dominated the rebound count, leading 27-16 at halftime, as well as the points in the paint, leading that category 30-16.

The memories of losing a double-digit lead seemed to haunt Illawarra early in the third as they settled for tough, contested shots and hit a drought offensively while Ili led a United fightback, hitting four free-throws in a row to have the visitors within four points. But Melbourne had other problems to worry about with White being called for his third foul and Marcus Lee leaving the court with a shoulder injury before he later returned.

Coming off the bench after missing game four with injury, Kell was pleading to be put back in the game and his presence on the court immediately paid dividends. The Hawks improved their execution offensively, Olbrich's dominance inside the paint rolled on and a steal from William Hickey, which led to a Hyunjung Lee and-one, made the Illawarra faithful erupt as the pushed the lead back out to 10.

Melbourne's veterans in Dellavedova and Goulding tried their best to take over offensively when they needed it most. Swaka Lo Buluk was all over Goulding, not allowing him any space from the three-point line, but the two-time Olympian made the adjustment of attacking the basket, scoring eight points in the quarter to close the gap to five points.

But Kell looked like a new man for Illawarra with his knee injury not hindering his performance at all, making back-to-back baskets on his way to seven for the quarter and a total of 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists at three-quarter time as the Hawks maintained their 10-point lead, holding an 82-72 advantage with 10 minutes left in the season.

Melbourne appeared to be a team without answers to start the final quarter, continuing to take tough shots and allowing the Hawks to get out in transition with Kell hitting another triple while Harvey and Hickey attacked the rim with ease to put one hand on the championship trophy with a 14-point lead with just 4:30 left in the game.

Goulding's second three-point make and Ili free-throws had the deficit back to 10 for Melbourne but they couldn't stop Hickey and the Hawks on the offensive glass. Consecutive second chance points from Illawarra forced Vickerman to call another timeout, trailing 97-85 with 3:26 remaining.

From there, the Hawks had all the answers with a Kell and-one layup in transition the final nail in the coffin and closing out one of the greatest series wins in NBL championship history to finish with a 114-104 and record the first victory by a home team in the series.

Along with Hickey and Kell, the Hawks had plenty of contributors with Harvey also scoring 16 points and grabbing seven rebounds, Swaka Lo Buluk had 16 points and Olbrich had 12 points four rebounds and three assists.

Goulding led the way for Melbourne with 21 points while Ili had 20. White (17 points) and Clark (15 points) also had double figures for United, who fell short in the championship series for the second year in a row after losing to Tasmania JackJumpers last season.

NBL Champions since 1979

• 1979: St. Kilda Saints 94 def. Canberra Cannons 93
• 1980: St. Kilda Saints 113 def. West Adelaide Bearcats 88
• 1981: Launceston Casino City 75 def. Nunawading Spectres 54
• 1982: West Adelaide Bearcats 80 def. Geelong Cats 74
• 1983: Canberra Cannons 75 def. West Adelaide Bearcats 73
• 1984: Canberra Cannons 84 def. Brisbane Bullets 82
• 1985: Brisbane Bullets 121 def. Adelaide 36ers 95
• 1986: Adelaide 36ers 2–1 def. Brisbane Bullets
• 1987: Brisbane Bullets 2–0 def. Perth Wildcats
• 1988: Canberra Cannons 2–1 def. North Melbourne Giants
• 1989: North Melbourne Giants 2–0 def. Canberra Cannons
• 1990: Perth Wildcats 2–1 def. Brisbane Bullets
• 1991: Perth Wildcats 2–1 def. Eastside Spectres
• 1992: South East Melbourne Magic 2–1 def. Melbourne Tigers
• 1993: Melbourne Tigers 2–1 def. Perth Wildcats
• 1994: North Melbourne Giants 2–0 def. Adelaide 36ers
• 1995: Perth Wildcats 2–1 def. North Melbourne Giants
• 1996: South East Melbourne Magic 2–1 def. Melbourne Tigers
• 1997: Melbourne Tigers 2–1 def. South East Melbourne Magic
• 1998: Adelaide 36ers 2–0 def. South East Melbourne Magic
• 1999: Adelaide 36ers 2–1 def. Victoria Titans
• 2000: Perth Wildcats 2–0 def. Victoria Titans
• 2001: Wollongong Hawks 2–1 def. Townsville Crocodiles
• 2002: Adelaide 36ers 2–1 def. West Sydney Razorbacks
• 2003: Sydney Kings 2–0 def. Perth Wildcats
• 2004: Sydney Kings 3–2 def. West Sydney Razorbacks
• 2005: Sydney Kings 3–0 def. Wollongong Hawks
• 2006: Melbourne Tigers 3–0 def. Sydney Kings
• 2007: Brisbane Bullets 3–1 def. Melbourne Tigers
• 2008: Melbourne Tigers 3–2 def. Sydney Kings
• 2009: South Dragons 3–2 def. Melbourne Tigers
• 2010: Perth Wildcats 2–1 def. Wollongong Hawks
• 2011: New Zealand Breakers 2–1 def. Cairns Taipans
• 2012: New Zealand Breakers 2–1 def. Perth Wildcats
• 2013: New Zealand Breakers 2–0 def. Perth Wildcats
• 2014: Perth Wildcats 2–1 def. Adelaide 36ers
• 2015: New Zealand Breakers 2–0 def. Cairns Taipans
• 2016: Perth Wildcats 2–1 def. New Zealand Breakers
• 2017: Perth Wildcats 3–0 def. Illawarra Hawks
• 2018: Melbourne United 3–2 def. Adelaide 36ers
• 2019: Perth Wildcats 3–1 def. Melbourne United
• 2020: Perth Wildcats 2–1 def. Sydney Kings
• 2021: Melbourne United 3–0 def. Perth Wildcats
• 2022: Sydney Kings 3–0 def. Tasmania JackJumpers
• 2023: Sydney Kings 3–2 def. New Zealand Breakers
• 2024: Tasmania JackJumpers 3–2 def. Melbourne United