The Wollongong Hawks finally gave their long suffering home fans something to smile about with an upset 94-92 victory over Perth at The Sandpit in Wollongong.

Playing their last game at home in an otherwise forgettable season, the Hawks snapped a six-game losing streak and left the playoff bound Wildcats with a world of problems.

Looking to build momentum, third placed Perth stumbled to their third straight loss against a team that had lost 17 of their last 20.

After looking comfortable at the end of the first quarter, Perth's offensive game collapsed for alarmingly long stretches of the contest, a combination of good defence and horrendous decision making.

A worried Perth coach Scott Fisher searched for answers during his team's second half time-outs, knowing that their current form would not be enough to get past the NBL's best in the weeks to come.

Perth had looked the goods in the opening quarter, powering away from a 15-all deadlock to lead the Hawks 37-28 by the end of the period.

The Wildcats can thank the hot shooting of guard Damian Ryan for their lead as he came off the bench to hit 10 points in just five minutes.

Perth pushed the score out to an 11-point margin in the second, but with five minutes to play their form disappeared.

Outscored 16-1 by Wollongong during that time, the Hawks took their first lead of the game inside the final minute of the half, and went to the main break in front 53-49.

It was more of the same frustration for the Wildcats in the third quarter after getting back within two.

Perth scored just seven points in the last seven minutes of the third, handing Wollongong a 76-68 lead with a quarter to play.

It was left to Hawks captain Glen Saville to nail an off balance, high pressure game winner with just five seconds left on the clock to claim the win.

Saville was the difference in the second half, finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and punishing the Wildcats from the free throw line, hitting 10 of his 14 attempts.

Adam Ballinger and Casey Frank proved handy inside targets for the Hawks, providing great support to Saville with 18 and 17 points respectively.

Point guard Darren Brooks top scoring for Perth with 19, but their problems were demonstrated by Shawn Redhage's 16, coming on a woefully inadequate seven shots for their main scorer.

"We would prefer to go to the playoffs but it was a real show of character tonight," Wollongong coach Eric Cookes said.

"We came out and played hard, and really played like a team so I'm very proud of them.

"We'd had some hard game this year, but we've always had belief in ourselves and tonight was another case of believing that we could do it."

Fisher was concerned about his team's inability to convert their chances, highlighted by hitting just three of their 23 three-point attempts.

"We had a hard time putting the ball in the hole, or even getting a shot up that was even close to the basket in the second quarter," Fisher said.

"We've talked about momentum for the past 11 games, and over the last three games we've lost that momentum.

"We're third in the league and we've proved that throughout the season, but it's not the slingshots we want into the playoffs."

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