Battling Perth fall to undefeated St Mirren
Undefeated St Mirren travelled north to face Perth Phoenix – and returned home with their proud record intact
The Saints line-up was without Ali Harris and influential captain Jack Thomson.
A number of other players were also injured, or unavailable, to leave Saints with just 10 players.
The starting Saints were: Ross Pigott, Brad Low, Mikey Irvine, Owen Speirs and Robbie Stevenson, and they faced a much taller Perth side who looked as though they were up for the challenge.
The game got off to a scrappy start and both defences had to be strong in the early exchanges. However, Perth chipped away at the scoreboard and some poor shooting and bad luck for Saints saw Perth ease in front.
The Saints could not find their rhythm and it took them four minutes before Stevenson managed their first score.
This was followed promptly by the first three-pointer of the match for Perth and halfway through the quarter, Saints found themselves in unfamiliar territory trailing 12-2.
St Mirren eventually started to find the basket with Mikey Irvine producing the first Paisley three-pointer, helping them to work themselves back into the tie although still behind 22-16 by the end of the quarter.
St Mirren started to catch up with Perth in the second period, with the mid quarter score sitting at 28-24.
Saints defended harder and Perth were unable to get the ball out of defence as they were under constant pressure , and this, combined with a period in the game when Stevenson could not miss, saw St Mirren eventually catch and pass Perth, with 12 unanswered points at one stage.
The third quarter started with a tremendous block from Ross Piggott on an attack from a Perth player a foot taller than him.
Robbie Stevenson then broke up court and hit a three-pointer from distance.
This did not break the Perth team’s morale and although a few of their players were starting to get in foul trouble, they continued to defend strongly.
The Perth team started to come back into the match and gradually nibbled away at the Saints lead.
Two slam dunks late in the quarter had the local fans on their feet as Perth edged the Quarter, although Saints were still leading by seven points.
Into the final quarter and Perth continued to gradually chip away at the score, bringing it to within a point at one stage.
But despite some late pressure from the hosts, St Mirren managed to hold on to secure a vital win.