It put on a dominant display as it beat the St Kilda Saints 82-63 to claim its first Dunedin men’s club basketball title since 2013.
The win avenged last week’s loss in the major semifinal — its first of the season — as well as last year’s loss in the final, both against the Saints.
While the Magic was a constant threat on offence, it was defensively that it won the game in what was a complete team performance.
It shut down the Saints’ main threats and rebounded aggressively to limit second-chance points.
Only in the third quarter were the Saints able to click, scoring 26 points, as opposed to the other three quarters which saw them held to 13, 12 and 12.
The Magic got off to a fast start and led 8-0 early on, before the Saints pulled things back to 14-11 seven minutes in.
A strong finish to the quarter saw the Magic extend that to 21-13, a gap which never really closed.
The Saints stuck around early in the second, before the Magic went on a 15-5 run to finish the half.
With Matt Gillan (seven points) in foul trouble and James Ross (11 points) being contained effectively, the Saints struggled to score and faced a 41-25 scoreline at halftime.
The third quarter offered a brief respite to St Kilda, as it edged back to 55-46 at one point.
But two quick baskets to Benoit Hayman halted the run and helped the Magic hold a 65-48 lead.
That enabled momentum to swing back to the Magic and several big defensive plays let it open a 19-point gap midway through the final quarter.
Magic coach Alf Arlidge said the team was pleased to finish so emphatically.
‘‘We obviously had a really good regular season being undefeated, but losing the major semi last week to the Saints probably woke the boys up, awoke the giant.
’’But yeah, really pleasing, I think winning by 19 is really pleasing for the team. The boys have worked hard.’’
Likewise, Josh Aitcheson — who top-scored alongside Hayman with 20 points — said the win was great.
‘‘It’s pretty awesome to finally get there, especially after a pretty disappointing loss last season.’’
The swingman was named the league’s most valuable player and was a constant presence throughout the game, although he was quick to deflect praise.
’’It’s a trophy, but I couldn’t have done it without any of the boys.
‘‘They make me look good out there. I can just do the flashy stuff, they do the hard yards.’’
Despite having been to several high-level tournaments, including the under-19 world championships, he called the win ‘‘pretty big’’.
The title was the Magic’s first since 2013 and snapped the Saints’ streak of three in a row.
