The last round before club basketball’s two-week break delivered a tough match-up between strong rivals Andy Bay Falcons and City Rise Bombers.

The Bombers fought hard, but lost 85-72 to the Falcons side.

The Falcons got out to a fast start and led 32-23 at the end of the first quarter, setting the tempo for the rest of the game.

From there, the Falcons were able to put pressure on the Bombers side, unleashing their three-point shooters - Matt Brien, Tom Davison and Lawrence Kim all finding open shots.

However, the Bombers’ aggressive, drive-first scoring restricted Falcons to a 10-point lead at the end of the half.

Early in the third Bombers took a hit when their big man James Collins got fouled out, and they lost their inside presence.

They had to produce a push to keep themselves in the game, which came from former Varsity player Stan Muru.

The Bombers drew out the help side well when driving and found Muru wide open under the rim several times in the third to keep them in contention, trailing by 13 at the end of the period.

Although the Bombers fought hard throughout the fourth and found a run early in the quarter, the Falcons remained composed.

They rode the ups and downs of the final quarter to restrict the Bombers to a 10-point deficit throughout and closed off the game.

In the other games of the week the Falcons took a tough loss of their own on Thursday against the Mid City Magic, losing 97-80 in a rough battle.

In other clashes the St Kilda Saints took on the Magic Lions, where Tai Flavell looked to control his side’s intensity having lots of touches and playing strong to the rim.

They battled hard on defence but still were not able to topple the Saints - who had more experience out there and the ability to stick with their runs and rough patches to claim the win 104-55.

 - Harry Thorp

B Grade Results

Magic Vipers 94 def 63 St Kilda Raiders

South Pac Kings 76 def 49 Andy Bay Falcons Red

South Pac Kavanagh 81 def 73 St Kilda Tropics

OB’s Too 69 def 63 Andy Bay Falcons White

A Reserve Grade

Andy Bay Falcons 2 81 def 62 Varsity Thunder

Magic Muddogs 62 def 58 St Kilda Dragons 

OB’s Elite 80 def 69 Andy Bay Falcons 3

Varsity Blue 67 def 59 City Rise Bombers B

A Grade

Andy Bay Falcons 1 85 def 72 City Rise Bombers A

St Kilda Saints 104 def 55 Magic Lions

Mid City Magic A 83 def 60 Varsity Starters

Mid City Magic A 97 def 80 Andy Bay Falcons A (Thursday)