Long-serving Otago Nuggets forward Matt Gillan showed his shooting class to lead the Saints to an 80-65 win against the Magic in Dunedin club basketball on Saturday.
Gillan scored a game-high 32 points, including seven three-pointers, and was backed up by James Ross (17 points) and Cain Falconer (10) as the Saints returned to the top of the table.
Josh Kitson led a balanced scoring effort by the Magic with 18 points, while Eddy Manco added 17 and Apiti Maihi worked tirelessly at both ends of the court.
Six players scored in double figures for the City Rise Bombers as they crushed Otago Boys High School 105-65.
Pete Burgess led the Bombers with 22 points, Steve Robinson had 19 and Chris Hepburn had 17 as the more experienced side showed its superior skill and size from the opening tip.
Otago Boys was missing its player-coach, former Nuggets forward Brent Matehaere, who was on Otago women's coaching duties.
Ethan Carruthers scored 23 points for the school team and Chris Hood added 15.
In the last game of the round, the Andy Bay Falcons defended the Dunedin City Ford Trophy by beating Magic 2 90-50.
Strong defensive pressure by the Falcons wore the Magic side down and forced many turnovers, which were turned into easy baskets at the other end.
Caleb Burgess led all scorers with 25 points for the Falcons, with support from Tom Giles (15) and James Bardsley (12).
Andrew Wheeler (15) and Will Dickenson (13) were the top scorers for Magic 2.
Tall Ferns power boosted the Harbour Breeze to a final win in the first tournament of the Women's Basketball Championship in Auckland on Saturday.
Charmian Purcell and Noni Wharemate, part of the Tall Ferns team to the Beijing Olympics last year, combined to score 40 points as the Breeze defeated the Waikato Cougars 67-45 in the title game.
Purcell scored a game-high 26 points, while Wharemate added 14 for Harbour, which also included former Tall Fern Karlene Kingi.
Harbour jumped on the all-high school Cougars squad from the opening tip, up by 14 points, 23-9, after a quarter and pushed the lead out to 24 points by half-time.
Earlier, the defending national champion Breeze beat the Canterbury Wildcats in their semifinal, while the Cougars stunned the Wellington Swish with a 33-11 fourth quarter to win 84-72.
The inaugural Women's Basketball Championship features three tournaments, in North Harbour, Dunedin (July 23-25) and Wellington (August 20-22), to determine a national champion.
