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Captain Jordan Hunter stood tall and Owen Foxwell had the game of his life as South East Melbourne beat the Illawarra Hawks by three points.

South East Melbourne Phoenix have continued their midseason surge under interim coach Josh King with a thrilling 103-100 NBL win over the Illawarra Hawks.

Trey Kell airballed a tough three-point attempt on the fulltime buzzer at John Cain Arena on Saturday, allowing the Phoenix to prevail after they had trailed by 15 points early in the second quarter.

Captain Jordan Hunter scored 23 points for the Phoenix, while reserve guard Owen Foxwell played the game of his life, racking up 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds and shooting 4-of-6 from three-point territory.

Foxwell's brilliance compensated for a forgettable evening from Derrick Walton Jr, who was held scoreless in just 7:54 of action, and did not play at all from midway through the second stanza.

Imports Tyler Harvey (19 points) and Darius Days (18) led the charge for the Hawks, who controlled proceedings early before the game got away from them in the third term, which SEM dominated 26-17.

After Illawarra vaulted to a 13-2 lead, the Phoenix scored 13 in a row to hit the lead briefly, before the visitors took control again, finishing the opening term with an 8-0 rush to lead 31-21 at quarter-time.

Nathan Sobey racked up three first-quarter fouls and sat out the entire second term as the Hawks sprinted to a 36-21 cushion.

SEM missed 13 of their first 14 long-range attempts, but they continued to live and die from the perimeter.

The long bombs eventually started falling, helping trim Illawarra's advantage to 59-52 at halftime.

Foxwell was particularly active in the third period, aided by Sobey who belatedly got involved, as the Phoenix seized control and moved ahead by two points at three-quarter-time.

Hunter's grunt work in the paint was decisive down the stretch as the home side continued to hold the edge despite Harvey's hot shooting in the fourth.