Buddies weather Storm in tough contest at Lagoon
Saints stayed in control to seal deal in high-scoring game
Craig Ritchie
St Mirren Senior Men braved the Storm to come away with maximum points at the Lagoon.
The experienced Gladgow side were boosted by the return of Nestor Lasuncion from the BBL side, the Glasgow Rocks.
The opening period had both teams providing a lot of energy with few points appearing on the scoreboard.
Veteran Saint, Colin Railley was the first to settle as his three-point shot found the net.
Nick Collins then got in range followed by Chris Cleary as Saints began to build some points.
The visitors started to chase the game, even at this early stage, as Saints built a 10 point lead.
The opening period ended at 25-19 to Saints with young Eden Duff coming of the Saints sub bench to hit his three-point shot late in the period.
Saints’ second- quarter effort was a straightforward challenge to the Storm to keep up with the scoring as the points piled in.
The running game was led by Chris Barron and Fergus Harte as they claimed more than half the Saints points with 15 between them.
Collins, Cleary and Duff all added to the total as Saints eased ahead with another 29 points on the way to a half time lead at 54-37.
A big push after half time and Saints were well in control as another 32 points appeared on the scoreboard and with no three-pointers in that total it indicated the Saints were running the floor well.
The scoreboard of 86-59 could be a final score in a lot of matches but there was still 10 minutes to play. Saints began to tire a little in the final period as the visitors attempted to cut the lead.
Seven different scorers in that final period had the home team add another 17 points to reach over 100 points for the second game in a row.
The visitors did cut Saints lead by three points but the final score at 103-79 was a good result for the Saints.
The Paisley side’s top scorers this week were Chris Cleary with 25 points, Chris Barron 23 and captain Nick Collins on 19.
The next home fixture for the Saints is in the Scottish Cup on Friday, September 28 with the opening round game against Edinburgh Lions.