American guard Rotnei Clarke shrugged off a surprise benching to spark the Illawarra Hawks to Sunday's crushing 109-78 victory over the New Zealand Breakers at WIN Entertainment Centre.
The NBL's MVP in 2014, Clarke had one of his best games of the season, scoring a game-high 22 points off the bench in his team's fifth win.
Illawarra had six players in double figures as they avenged Friday night's 15-point loss to the Breakers in Auckland.
The Hawks overcame a nervous start and the loss of star import Marvelle Harris (ankle) after four minutes to be up 26-20 at quarter-time, with live-wire guard Mitch Norton scoring eight points.
Clarke had four points before pouring in 11 in the second quarter, as Illawarra surged to a 56-44 halftime lead.
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The Hawks showed no signs of slowing down in the second half, sharing the workload at both ends of the court and stretching the margin to 19 at three-quarter time.
Illawarra were never threatened down the stretch and boosted their win-loss record to 5-6.
The Breakers are on the road against the Cairns Taipans next Sunday, while Illawarra have a Sunday away game against injury-plagued titleholders Perth.
