Wollongong Hawks lifted from the gloom of their financial woes with an emphatic 96-74 victory over Townsville in Friday night's NBL clash at the Wollongong Entertainment Centre.

Wollongong led 46-39 at halftime and their smothering defence restricted the Crocodiles to a miserable 37.7 per cent shooting.

Leading scorer Kavossy Franklin overcame a knee injury and skipper Mat Campbell a sore Achilles to play pivotal roles for the home side.

Both had a game-high 18 points with Franklin dishing off six assists and five rebounds while Campbell also had two assists and five boards.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Hawks who improved to 5-14 while Townsville (11-10) remain in the top eight.

Crocodiles import Corey Williams, who burned the Hawks in their two previous wins this season had a foul prone night and just 16 points.

Crocs danger man John Rillie had just five points in 34 minutes.

Wollongong officials confirmed last week the club needed around $1 million to remain in the NBL.

The club is looking for a "white knight" to save it financially while a slightly disappointing post-Christmas crowd of 3,386 passionate Hawks fans turned out following a public rally for support in the lead-up.

With Franklin and Campbell battling injuries and guard Lindsay Tait out for the season, Wollongong signed journeyman guard Aaron Trahair from Perth for the rest of the season.

Now with his seventh NBL club, Trahair had a quiet debut playing only nine minutes for two points.

Hawks coach Eric Cooks said the support from Wollongong's home fans was inspirational.

"They came out tonight believing in us and we wanted to respond accordingly," Cooks said.

"Believe it or not we still think we can make the play-offs and our home fans are truly fantastic.

"Every game they have been here for us and you only have to look into the stands tonight to know how much basketball means to this town."

Crocs coach Trevor Gleeson paid tribute to the Hawks.

"They played physical, they played together, and they played strong throughout and we didn't cope with that," Gleeson said.

"It's probably our worst performance since early November but in a 30-game season, you're going to have ups and downs.

"The little things went against us tonight but you still have to credit the Hawks for the passion they played with."

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