The way it happened, though, would have been painfully familiar for the St Kilda Saints.
The Saints squandered a 17-point third-quarter lead, as the Magic ran rampant late, to beat their rivals 97-93 in the Dunedin men’s club competition on Saturday.
Mid City trailed 91-87 with three minutes remaining, before a Mitchell Hughan layup ignited an 8-0 run.
That proved the defining period in a typically hard-fought contest between the two heavyweights of the league.
The win leaves Magic with a 2-0 record, while the Saints slump to a rare 0-2 start, having fallen away late against Varsity a week ago, too.
Hughan led the Magic with 29 points, in a dominant display from the former league MVP, while Otago Nuggets point guard Joe Ahie added 21.
Mike Ruske had 26 points for the Saints, while Liam Aston hit five of the team’s 16 three-pointers in this 17-point haul.
And for a while those three-pointers were a big factor in the way the game went.
The Magic had led 26-23, before the Saints rallied as the second quarter began.
A 13-0 propelled St Kilda to a 34-26 lead, hurting the Magic at the hoop, in the mid-range and from deep. Hughan got to the hoop to stem the flow, but it did not take back momentum.
The Saints kept a nose in front to take a 55-46 lead to halftime, as Ruske constantly hurt the Magic off the dribble.
That lead grew to 66-49 early in the third quarter, as three quick triples to Jamie MacDonald (16 points) and Ruske put the Saints in a dominant position.
At that point the Magic responded with a 9-0 run.
Hughan hit a pull-up jumper from the short corner, before two quick transition layups and three-pointer from Ahie closed the score to 66-58.
By the time they went to the final break, the Magic had closed the gap to 76-70.
That completely flipped, as the Magic went on a 15-2 tear early in the fourth quarter, taking the lead back at 87-83.
The Saints responded with a run of its own, a triple and a floater from Aston, followed by a three-point play from Ruske, taking the Saints out to 91-87.
Magic threw the final punch.
Ahie picked off a Ruske pass in the full court, and Hughan finished a layup seconds later, to draw within two.
From there the Magic made three trips to the line, converting on all six free throws, while the Saints offence went dry to close the game.
Callum Chirnshide had 21 points as the Magic Lions beat the Andy Bay Falcons 86-69, and Sam Senior led the City Rise Bombers with 23 points in a 102-65 demolition of Varsity.
