Saints, Magic stay unbeaten with ease

LIAM Aston poured in four firstquarter threepointers to propel the St Kilda Saints to a comfortable victory.

The Saints guard was locked in and helped his team on a 272 run throughout the first and second quarters.

Varsity never got close from there, and the Saints emerged 8361 winners in Dunedin men’s club basketball on Saturday.

They and the Mid City Magic are unbeaten after two weeks.

Aston hit a further threepointer in the second quarter, finishing with 19 points.

Influential duo Lawson MorrisWhyte and Mike Ruske were also key in the keeping the score ticking over.

MorrisWhyte was reliable as usual around the hoop to topscore with 23 points, while Ruske — who made his Otago Nuggets debut later that night — added 22.

Isaac Smiler topscored for Varsity with 18 points.

The Mid City Magic preserved its own unbeaten status with a 9450 win over a depleted Magic Lions team missing the majority of its roster to the Otago under19 team.

The Lions remained in touch throughout the first quarter, before the score ballooned to 5728 at halftime.

The Magic spread its scoring load throughout its squad.

Newcomer Jack Donnelly led the way with 17 points, while the trio of Nathan Hanna, Dallas Hartmann and Tai PorimaFlavell had 14 each.

The Andy Bay Falcons got their first win of the season with a comprehensive 9971 defeat of the St Kilda Bullets, who were playing their first game in A grade.

The game was effectively over midway through the second quarter, when a 170 run by the Falcons gave them a 3916 lead.

Sam Senior topscored with 21 points, while Paden Kennedy added 20.

Alex Wright had 20 points for the Bullets, the lefthanded forward sparking a minicomeback for St Kilda through the third quarter.