The St Kilda Saints had a long way back as Joseph Euphrat’s three-pointer splashed through the hoop.
Too long, it turned out.
Euphrat’s triple capped a 15-3 run to open the fourth quarter for the City Rise Bombers, propelling the team to a 90-78 win in Dunedin men’s club basketball on Saturday.
The result snapped a 24-game winning streak for the Saints, their last loss being the 2021 final.
Meanwhile, the Bombers had won just one of their opening seven games this season, before edging the Andy Bay Falcons on the buzzer a week ago.
They were always a dangerous team — they have Matthew Bardsley and, potentially, Todd Withers, to return — and so it proved.
The Saints were missing key duo James Ross and Lawson Morris-Whyte.
Star Bombers duo Olly Smith (25 points) and Caleb Smiler (22 points) helped their team to a 39-28 lead midway through the second quarter.
But the Saints clawed their way back, Micah Tupou (28 points) and Mike Ruske (21 points) leading the way.
They got it back to 48-42 at halftime, before briefly taking the lead midway through the third quarter.
Neither could pull away for the rest of the quarter, and they went to the final break tied at 66-66.
At that point, the Bombers took over in the defining period of the game.
Maika Shortland stole the ball, put it behind his back and then weaved through several defenders to find a running Smiler to finish in transition.
It started the run in which the Bombers lifted their intensity to a level the Saints could not match.
They scored another transition basket, through Josh Christiaans, while Euphrat (20 points) hit two triples.
At the other end, the Saints barely generated a shot, let alone a good shot.
Three free throws to Ruske were all they managed, as the Bombers shot out to an 81-69 lead.
In other games Mid City Magic beat Magic Lions 92-68 and
the Andy Bay Falcons needed a big finish to beat Varsity 83-71.
