Saints too powerful for Tornadoes
ST MIRREN.............................98 AYRSHIRE TORNADOES..... 51
St Mirren Senior Men made it five wins in a row when they spun their way past Ayrshire Tornadoes despite a slow start.
With Chris Bar ron unavailable, Ali Salimy made his first start of the season and made an impact defensively from the off.
The Saints started strongly with Nick Collins and Fergus Harte contributing the first ten points as the home side opened up a 12-6 lead.
The Tornadoes turned to long-range shooting and with a couple of quick threes, they suddenly found themselves 18-15 ahead.
Head coach Matt Giroux was clearly disappointed with the start, but the Saints regrouped to start the second quarter brightly.
Tornadoes kept close with more excellent shooting, hitting four more three pointers in the second stanza.
Saints continued to be led by Collins scoring eight points in the quarter. But the home team could not shake the determined visitors and were in front by just six points 38-32 at the half.
The Saints emerged in the second half with a real hunger in their bellies.
The pressure defence was more than the Tornadoes could handle and multiple turnovers were forced leading to quick transition baskets for the home side.
Another steal led to a deft behind-the-back pass from Harte to Chris Cleary for a powerful dunk and the visitors had to call time-out to try and settle as the Saints had extended the lead to 52-36.
Harte came out after the time- out with five quick points on a three pointer and two free throws as the Saints continued to apply pressure.
Ben Mitchell and Euan Birch came off the bench and made an impact as did Liam Stevenson, with another three pointer.
When Steven Murdoch scored the last basket of the quarter the lead had been extended to 72-37.
The final quarter saw little let up by the Saints. The players off the bench continued to apply excellent defensive pressure and continued to move the ball effectively.
Birch opened the quarter with a three pointer on his way to scoring eight points in the final period.
Junior captain Brad Low brought intensity and some scoring and Callum Morrison made some excellent passes from the post.
Adam Hammerschmidt capped off his scoring with a long three pointer in another strong and consistent performance.
Eden Duff went down with an awkward looking ankle turn after providing a spark on the offensive boards.
The Saints allowed fourteen points in the fourth quarter to secure a 98- 51 victory.
The score sheet continues to show the unselfish nature of the team with eleven players scoring and five in double digits.
The team was led by Cleary with 17, Harte and Collins both scored 16, Hammerschmidt with 11 and Birch 10.
Saints will be looking to make it six wins on the trot in their next fixture, an away clash against Perth Phoenix on Friday.
They will then be back on home soil on Friday, November 1 with the visit of Glasgow University.