Saints, Magic unbeaten; Lions get first win

Two teams remain unbeaten three rounds into the Dunedin club basketball season.

The St Kilda Saints and Mid City Magic both notched wins to move to perfect 3-0 records on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Mid City Magic Lions beat the City Rise Bombers for their first win of the season.

After leading by 13 at the end of the third quarter, the Lions had to withstand a comeback from the Bombers, making for a tense final quarter.

They were able to hold them off, though, claiming an 87-81 victory on the back of 23 points each from Micah Lepaio and Jivarne Joseph.

A close first quarter saw the Bombers lead 20-18 at the break, before the Lions pulled back to hold a seven-point lead at halftime.

Joseph poured in 13 points in the third quarter, seeing the Lions pull away to their biggest lead, before the Bombers rallied but could not get the job done.

It was a good day for the Magic club, as its top team also claimed a win over the Andy Bay Falcons.

After being made to work hard for 35 minutes, a strong finish saw it pull away down the stretch.

Josh Aitcheson was the key man, showing his ability to threaten in multiple ways as he scored 38 points and hardly looked like missing.

At the other end, Tom Davison and Josh Campbell combined for 12 three-pointers for the Falcons.

Every time the Magic looked to pull away, the Falcons answered, often with a triple, ensuring the game remained close heading into the final stretch.

But an 8-0 run between timeouts, in which Matt Dukes hit two corner three-pointers, saw the score reach double figures, a margin the Falcons could not overhaul.

In the late game, the St Kilda Saints proved far too good for a Varsity team that was missing big-man duo Stanley Muru and Paul Won for the second week in a row.

James Ross had 15 points and was at his destructive best off the dribble, while Matt Gillan added 18.

It was the Saints' range of threats that made them difficult to contain, though.

On the defensive end the defending champions were even better.

They made it difficult for Varsity to get off good shots as they streaked ahead to a 74-46 win.

The results see the Saints and Magic tied on top of the table with three wins each.

The Falcons, Bombers and Lions are all tied for third with one win and two losses, while Varsity remains at the bottom without a win.

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