Injury-hit Wildcats go down to Hawks in Wollongong

Harris scored a career-high 15 points to go with seven rebounds, while Cotton (20 points and three steals) broke the shackles from the previous two games against the Hawks before going down with a knee issue.

But it was the home side which prevailed 108-92 to seal their post-season spot.

"Credit to them, they just killed us on the glass and kept chipping away at us," Wildcats head coach John Rillie said after his team lost the rebounds count 57-35.

The Wildcats were dealt a blow with important big man Kristian Doolittle suffering a left shoulder injury before three-quarter time and taking no further part in the match.

Cotton then clashed knees with an Illawarra player in the last term and remained on the bench.

The Wildcats charged back into the contest in the third quarter with Cotton was fouled from outside the three-point line and drained the respective shot to make it a four-point play.

He then dished out a perfect assist to Alex Sarr and it was all tied up at 70-apiece with four minutes left in the third term.

But that was as good as it got with Illawarra dominating from that point as Tai Webster, Hyrum Harris and Keanu Pinder all fouled out.

Youngsters David Okwera, Ben Henshall and Michael Harris all got extended time on the court late with the result already beyond doubt.

Aside from Hyrum Harris and Cotton, Sarr impressed in front of representatives from nine NBA teams to finish with 11 points and six rebounds, while Jordan Usher (12 points) and Pinder (10) also reached double figures.

With second spot already secured, the Wildcats finish their regular-season campaign against Tasmania in Hobart on Saturday – the second leg of a tough away trip.