Knowles Lifts Roller Hawks

Illawarra Mercury

Tuesday May 27, 2008

Tim Keeble

ATHENS Paralympian Tristan Knowles averaged a triple-double as the Wollongong Roller Hawks opened their season with two convincing home wins over Adelaide at the weekend.

The Roller Hawks tamed the Thunder 100-56 on Friday night and were even better in Saturday night's 94-40 rout.

Knowles, who flies out with the Australian team this morning for a tournament in Germany, racked up 36 points, 16 assists and 15 rebounds in game one before backing up with 34 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists on Saturday.

He played down his performances, claiming his team's committed effort at both ends of the court was the difference.

Reo Lewis was outstanding, averaging 24 points and 12.5 rebounds for the weekend, while Shawn Russell averaged 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

"We had good contributions across the board and it's good to start the season with two good wins," Knowles said.

"We actually felt they scored too many points on Friday and we came out on Saturday with a very strong focus at the defensive end. Our coach Jim Williams wants everyone to be accountable and not just reach a hand in there.

"He's been telling us to take that extra push for your teammates and become a really strong defensive team.

"Defence wins championships and we need to become defensively better than we were last year if we want to be competitive against (titleholders) Perth, because they've got so many offensive threats," Knowles said.

The Roller Hawks have a bye this weekend before hosting West Sydney on Friday week.

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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