Simon Kerle made the game saving lay up with 10 seconds left before C.J Bruton won the game for Wollongong.

Mr Clutch Does it Again

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 1998 at 9:24 PM ET

Mr Clutch - C.J Bruton has won yet another game for the Wollongong Hawks, this time he drove the length of the court with just seconds remaining and hit a small jumper in the lane to put the Hawks up 2. The Hawks were expected to have an easy time of it against the struggling Townsville Crocs, but the team from the north gave them a run for their money, leading for extended periods in the first half. The Hawks didn't start as they would have liked to, shooting 29% from the field in the first quarter, and looking shaky for most of the first half. C.J Bruton was still very good for the Hawks and thanks to his 13 first half points, including the buzzer beating jumper at the end of the second quarter.

The third quarter saw the Crocs catch fire and scored the first 10 points of the third term, Ron Rose causing the Hawks defence all sorts of problems early. The Crocs continued to shoot well from the perimeter but the Hawks also started to heat up and things got close again. The Crocs still stayed one step ahead of the home team and went into the fourth quarter break leading 69-66. The fourth quarter saw both teams exchange baskets early, the Hawks were looking better than they had in the third, C.J bruton starting to heat up again. The Crocs began to slip behind and time was running out on them. They trailed by as much as 7 in the final minutes until Simon Kerle nailed a long bomb and the Crocs came up with a stop. With 23 seconds left and trailing by 2, the Crocs went to their money man, Rob Rose. he worked his way to the top of the key and with 13 seconds left he put up a three. He shot an airball but Simon Kerle picked up the garbage and tied it away. With 10 seconds left there was only one man who was going to put the shot up. Mr Clutch went the length of the floor, stopped to cross up four defenders and got to the cup where he nailed an 8 foot jumper with no time left to win it for Wollongong. Along with nailing the game winner for Wollongong, Bruton also lead them in scoring with 28. matt Campbell also had a good game with 15 points. Rob Rose was the best for the Crocs with 27 points while Sam Mackinnon chipped in with 18.

Video:  Mr Clutch - C.J Bruton takes it the length of the court and hits the running jumper with no time left to win the game for Wollongong.
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