A big first quarter helped the St Kilda Saints maintain their strong start to the season.
The side led 29-13 at the first break and claimed a 77-62 victory over the City Rise Bombers in men’s club basketball on Saturday.
It left the side unbeaten and tied with Varsity at the top of the table after two weeks.
The Saints put on a typically balanced scoring effort and impressed without key guard James Ross.
Point guard Michael Ruske and forward Lawson Morris-Whyte each had 17 points and it was that duo that was important early.
They generated much of the scoring for the Saints as they built their lead.
A depleted Bombers side leaned on veteran swingman Steve Robinson, who led the side with 26 points.
While the Bombers had some success inside as they found big man James Collins (20 points), they were not able to reel in the deficit.
Tyler Lapham (15 points) showed his threat for the Saints through the middle quarters and they held a 66-42 lead at the final break.
The Bombers rallied and ate into the deficit from there, but the margin was too much to haul in.
Meanwhile, Varsity maintained its unbeaten start with a 72-52 win over a depleted Magic Lions side.
Kyle Owen scored 14 points as the students did their damage through the second quarter.
After going into the first break at 17-17, Varsity went on a 28-11 run.
The Lions managed just two field goals through that period, both to Max Pearce (18 points), while Varsity got scoring from a range of sources.
It was a gap Varsity maintained through the rest of the game.
In the late game the Mid City Magic got its first win, beating the Andy Bay Falcons 76-62.
The game remained tight throughout, before the Falcons offence dried up in the fourth quarter.
Andy Armstrong led the Magic with 14 points, while Lawrence Kim racked up 16 points for the Falcons.
