The St Kilda Saints returned to their winning ways, beating the City Rise Bombers 96-66 in a high-intensity match in a men's A grade match at the Edgar Centre on Saturday.
The classic derby started roughly, with elbows flying and aggressive play by both teams.
Saints' Damon Cleverly received two fouls in one minute.
Saints struggled to flow as a team due to returning players in the starting five and the Bombers finished the first quarter with a seven-point lead.
Saints soon found some rhythm with fast passing and dominated under the hoop, pulling the lead back quickly.
Bombers slipped in composure and managed only two points after seven minutes, finishing the second quarter with 11 points.
Saints was on top at halftime, 37-31.
It was a downward slope from here for the Bombers as they struggled to get clean shots off.
Saints took full control of the game at the end of the third quarter, winning by 40 points.
Standout player for the Saints was returning NBL player Tom Ingham, who plays for the Nelson Giants.
He was vocal and dominating around the court and led the scoring with 17 points.
He said he loved playing with St Kilda and enjoyed playing more of a team leader role compared with his NBL role.
"Down here I'm expected to do a bit more, which is great to have that responsibility,'' he said.
Bombers' Max Jablonski had a good game, being strong under the hoop, and pulled up well for clean shots, making 13 points for the game.
He said there was plenty to take from the match.
"First and foremost we need to D up [defend] and pride ourselves in making stops; we need quicker rotations and [to] stick with it throughout the entire game,'' he said.
There were no other games, as both University teams defaulted.
- Henry McMullan
