A dominant display on the final day of the regular season has secured the last top four spot for the City Rise Bombers.
The Bombers convincingly beat Varsity 104-42 to lock up fourth place in Dunedin men’s club basketball on Saturday.
It left them out of reach of the Andy Bay Falcons — who needed to rely on the Bombers losing to have a chance of edging ahead, by beating the Mid City Magic later in the day.
Joseph Euphrat and Tom Cowie did the bulk of the damage for the Bombers.
The duo, who have turned out sparingly for the team this year, combined for 59 points.
Euphrat led them with 32 points, hitting seven three-pointers in the process, while Southland Sharks guard Cowie had 27 and drained five triples.
Defensively the Bombers were just as dominant, holding Varsity to just five first-quarter points, before leading 43-14 at halftime.
The Bombers now join the St Kilda Saints, Mid City Magic and Magic Lions in a top four round-robin.
In that each team will play each other, before the top two placed teams meet in the final on August 27.
The Magic withstood a comeback from the Falcons to claim a 95-91 win.
Dallas Hartmann (29 points) got to the hoop at will early, as the Magic shot out to a 30-11 lead late in the first quarter.
That margin became 20 early in the second quarter, at 41-21, before the Falcons began to get stops and generate baskets at the other end.
They reduced the score to 43-36, but Hartmann again took over to make it 55-37 at halftime.
That began to close through the third quarter, as Josh Nickel (14 points) began aggressively driving to the hoop, while also stepping out to shoot a pair of triples.
Matt Pyper (25 points) was similarly locked in from deep and he pulled the Falcons back to 77-76, when he hit a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter.
They took the lead moments later, as Nickel picked off a pass and Matt Stevenson finished on the follow in transition.
But Otago Nuggets guard Joe Ahie (24 points) responded with back-to-back three-pointers.
That gave the Magic back the lead and, while the Falcons never let them get away, it was able to close out the game from there.
In the day’s other game the St Kilda Saints completed an unbeaten regular season with a 95-70 win over the St Kilda Bullets.
Danyon Ashcroft top-scored for the Saints with 23 points, while Alex Wright had 34 points for the Bullets.
