The Falcons were down by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter but clawed their way back into the game towards the end of the match to set up a great finish.
The last minute of the game took 15 minutes to play out, with both sides taking several time outs.
The Falcons played strong defence under the hoop in the first quarter, forcing the Magic to shoot from the perimeter.
The Magic answered well, though, and was hot from wide out, sinking four three-pointers to take a 16-13 lead into the first break.
It was anyone’s game in the second quarter as the lead bounced back and forth, with the Falcons finding their open men to hit clean shots and the Magic struggling to play at its usual tempo.
However, it finished the period strongly to take an 11-point lead into the halftime break.
The side started to loosen up in the second half, with Joe Cook-Green producing a no-look behind-the-back pass to set up Richard Rodger for an easy basket.
The game looked to be over by the final quarter but the Falcons fought back with some great drives to the basket by Hamish Robertson and some clutch shots from Chris Hood.
Hood scored the Falcons’ last nine points to keep his side in the game, but it was not quite enough.
Josh Aitcheson had a strong game around the court for the Magic, posting up well under the hoop and hitting 22 points.
For the Falcons, Hood dominated the rebounds and scored a massive 41 points, the game’s highest haul.
"Even though we didn’t win, to have a comeback like that is awesome," he said.
"We will have a bit of momentum going into our do-or-die match next week."
The other matches played were one-sided affairs, with the St Kilda Saints beating Varsity A 107-68 and the Bombers accounting for Varsity 87-52.
- Henry McMullan
