Bombers defused; St Kilda stays top

Matt Gillan.
Matt Gillan.
A dominant third quarter helped the St Kilda Saints fend off an early challenge from the City Rise Bombers on Saturday.

The 83-68 win gives the defending champions an unbeaten start to the season in Dunedin club basketball.

Matt Gillan led the way with 18 points as the Saints accelerated after a slow start.

It took the Saints until late in the second quarter to open its first significant gap, having trailed for the majority of the first quarter.

A transition layup, followed by a three-pointer from Jamie MacDonald, made it 32-27 as the Bombers called a time-out two minutes before halftime.

The Saints extended the lead to 38-32 at the break, but the end to the quarter had been ominous.

At that point the Saints pulled away, as point guard James Ross took control of the game.

When he stole the ball and passed ahead to Liam Aston for a layup the score became 46-36, the first double-digit lead of the game.

A further layup, followed by a three-pointer to Ross, took it to 51-38 as the Bombers had no answer to the onslaught.

Mistakes crept more and more into the Bombers game, as its turnovers became prevalent and its finishing became sloppy.

Three three-pointers from Damon Cleverley finished the quarter for the Saints, seeing the score balloon out to 71-47 at the end of the quarter.

Cleverley finished with 14 points, as did Ross, while Steve Robinson led the way with 19 for the Bombers.

Tempers flared early in the fourth quarter, before the intensity went out of the game as the teams went through the motions towards the end.

It had been a competitive start from the Bombers however, leading for the majority of the first quarter as the Saints struggled to get in the game early.

Veteran forward Mark Bracewell left the game early with a hamstring injury, a blow for a Bombers team already missing Olly Smith and AJ Auld-Beverley.

The Andy Bay Falcons notched their first win of the season in a 78-72 overtime thriller against Varsity.

With the score at 68-68 at the end of regulation, Alex Murray hit the decisive three-pointer to ensure Varsity could not haul the lead in.

In the early game, the Mid City Magic beat the Mid City Magic Lions 97-73.

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