The St Kilda Saints withstood a fightback from the Mid City Lions at the Edgar Centre on Saturday and secured their playoff spot.
Twice they had to stem runs in which the Lions drew level early in both the third and fourth quarters.
But they found a way to hit back both times, before a pair of late three-pointers from Mike Ruske sealed a 77-69 win.
It takes them to a record of 6-6 in the Dunedin men’s club basketball season, crucially creating an unassailable four-win gap over the fifth-placed Andy Bay Falcons, with three games to play.
And with Otago Nuggets duo Ruske (23 points) and Christian Martin (13 points) back, this Saints team will be a far greater threat than it has been for much of the season.
They had to show resolve in this one, too.
St Kilda led 41-29 at halftime, as Ruske proved pivotal in helping his team to a handy lead.
But they were hit by a Lions rampage to start the third quarter.
Chris Christof (26 points), making a return to the team he starred for last year, gave a reminder of his quality in that stretch.
He hit a classy mid-range pull-up, before trading three-pointers with Martin.
Harry Bezett scored twice in transition, while Noah Smith hit a triple in between times, bringing the Lions to within two at 44-42.
The Saints called timeout, and while the Lions equalised out of that, it was enough to stem the flow.
Ruske came off a screen and hit a floater to give the Saints a basket, before Dan van den Kerkof finished inside and Max Foote hit a corner three to make it 51-44.
The Saints held that lead through the rest of the quarter, finishing at 59-54.
However, the Lions again came out strong.
Martin scored for the Saints, before Lions guard Lachie Cameron (12 points) hit a triple, followed by a pair of classy baskets by Christof which tied the score at 61-61.
But the Saints’ veterans stepped up.
Tyler Lapham (15 points) banged in a three-pointer, before leading the break and providing a nice bounce pass for Liam Aston to score in transition.
The Saints had their buffer back, and while Cameron hit again from deep, Ruske answered to keep the gap.
While they never quite pulled away, it was Ruske who hit from deep again — this time being fouled on the shot and adding the extra — to make it 75-66 with three minutes to go and effectively put the game away.
In the top-of-the-table clash Toby Kendon had 16 points as the Mid City Magic remained unbeaten with an 81-74 win over the City Rise Bombers.
Harry Townsend had 23 points for the Bombers, while Nuggets guard Caleb Smiler turned out and had 22.
In the late game Liam Boomer had 34 points as the Andy Bay Falcons beat Varsity 97-69.
