Falcons hauled in late in game by unbeaten Magic

The defending champion emerged victorious, although only just.

A fourth-quarter run helped the Mid City Magic topple the Andy Bay Falcons 83-80 in Dunedin men’s club basketball at the Edgar Centre on Saturday.

The win leaves the Magic as the only unbeaten team after two weeks.

It faced a 10-point deficit early in the final quarter before it stormed back and held on in a tense finish.

After a tight first quarter it was the Magic that pulled away towards the end of the first half and led 38-26 at the break.

It capitalised on mistakes, while the Falcons went cold both from the foul line and finishing at the hoop.

However, momentum shifted as the Falcons rediscovered their finishing touch in the third quarter. They piled on 40 points during that period, and went to the final break ahead 66-59.

Lawrence Kim (22 points) proved tough to stop from the perimeter.

He left the game midway through the quarter with an ankle injury.

Although that was a key moment, Logan Dicker (17 points) continued the scoring run.

Meanwhile its defence created plenty of turnovers, which it turned into transition baskets at the other end.

But as it has done so many times in recent seasons, the Magic found a way back.

It began creating stops of its own, while big threes from young guards Mitch Hughan (21 points) and Josh Reeves (15 points) proved key in hauling in the deficit.

Equally important was the inside presence of Aaron Roydhouse (21 points), who was a reliable scoring option and rebounded strongly all day.

They helped the Magic back in front late in the game.

However, the Falcons stayed in touch and while it closed the deficit to two-points with three seconds left, Brent Cheshire (14 points) hit a free throw to ice the game.

Meanwhile in the early game Jamie MacDonald and Lawson Morris-Whyte scored 19 points each as the St Kilda Saints beat the City Rise Bombers 81-61.

In the late game, Dallas Hartmann led the Magic Lions with 19 points as they thrashed Varsity 99-69.

 

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