St Mirren 73

Sony Centre Fury 67

St Mirren Basketball’s under-18 men fought off a strong challenge from Sony Centre Fury last week at the Lagoon Centre to maintain their unbeaten record this season.

Something had to give when the two unbeaten teams faced each other.

The early exchanges proved fruitless for both sides and two minutes had passed before Fury put some points on the board.

The Falkirk team continued to move up the gears and put some points on the board. That soon shook the Buddies into life and they responded.

Good possession eventually turned into points for St Mirren, with six coming from Robbie Stevenson and a good three-pointer from Ally Harris.

Irvine and Ross Piggott were in the point to see Saints take a 16-8 lead at the end of the first quarter

Despite rattling up a further 17 points during the second quarter, Fury continued to pile on the pressure and some lacklustre defending didn’t help St Mirren’s cause.

But 11 points for Liam Stevenson saw the game level at half time 33 apiece.

The away side raced out of the traps in the third quarter to take a five-point lead.

The Saints fought hard and clawed their way back into the game.

Mikey Irvine was in stellar form, shooting a crucial three pointer to level the contest once again at 40-40.

St Mirren found their mojo and racked up the pints with 12 from Irvine and a further eight from Stevenson to take a third quarter lead of 60-54.

That set up a tense finale with the tie in the balance. With two minutes to go Fury were finding their way back into the game, however coach Stevenson called a time out that took the momentum out of Fury.

With a further 11 points from Stevenson and some solid defending the Paisley side were able to run out worthy winners in the top of the table clash to retain their place at the top of the league table.