It seemed the second-quarter feelings were still festering with a stoppage in the final quarter in the witching time of 1m 11s left on the clock.
Williams and Bailey were separated although it was a mismatch for the latter, if the bite of the blokes rather than their growl was anything to by.
Explained import Williams: "It's just the fight in our guys, man, because we're hungry to win."
The 24-year-old from Detroit, Michigan, said sometimes competing hard resulted in an escalation of emotions but it was imperative to stay composed to appreciate what transpired on the floor.
Williams said it wasn't anything anyone said but more the residual outcome of two sides lifting the tempo of the clash.
The drama aside, he felt the Hawks needed to go back to scrimmages in order to keep chipping away in the NBL.
"We just have to continue working on our defence," said Williams. "If we work hard on our defence, everything else will take care of itself."
He also felt the Hawks were guilty of giving the Sharks too many easy lay-ups from the boards.
"We have to not only do a better job of the rebounds but also box them out as a team and as a unit."
Despite his 19 points and eight rebounds, Williams said he was trying to adjust to the systems, although they looked progressively better from the previous games he had played.
"It's not about individual people but the team performance because if we don't win, then what I have doesn't matter, because we have to put a great game and come away with a win."
Flavell used centre Alex Pledger wisely, benching him every time Williams took the floor, although the Shark claimed a double-double 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Australian import power forward Nick Kay, who came close to a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds, said the game was an arm wrestle.
"We came in knowing they were going to play hard and be quite physical," said Kay, who felt they had done a superb job in the first half with some outside shooting.
The grinning Wollongong player said some of the emotion could be attributed to a flow-on from last season but it was part of the territory and that was what should be expected from every player.
"Fatigue isn't the reason the game went their way because credit has to go to Hawke's Bay because they really stuck to their programme so, thankfully, we were able to hit a few shots and come away with a win."
Co-skipper Jarrod Kenny was fouled out in the dying few seconds as fans, some who had booed referee Yalla Edwards as well as umpires Hayden Pipe and Elliott Duncan, expressed surprise that the Perth Wildcat double Australian NBL champion point guard seldom ever left the court because of a lack of discipline.
Veteran guard Hayden Allen scored 20 points for the victors while Te Rangi chimed in with 17 points and seven rebounds. Guard Derone Raukawa added 10 points to the collective.
For the Hawks, South Africa-born import forward Grant Fiorentinos showed why Daly-Taylor made the right decision in retaining him with an equal game-high 21 points.
Williams chimed in with 19 points and eight rebounds while Kenny (5 rebounds), Bartlett (both 8 and 7 on assists) and Fiji-born Joshua Fox were all 10 or a shade above in contributing points.
The telling statistics was Southland's 21-9 second-chance points although the visitors' also stamped their supremacy in points off the bench (39-28).
Hawks first Q1: 26-26. Q2: 42-51 (16-25). Q3: 68-84 (26-33). Q4: 87-101 (19-17).
