There’s not many clubs that can afford to lose two 36ers and a member of the CABL all-star 5 and expect to make much noise the next season.

But that is exactly the intention sounded by Sturt last night, with a convincing win over South Adelaide at home.

In complete contrast to the women’s game, it was South Adelaide’s Tom McKenzie being forced to keep South in touch early, bullying the young Sturt frontcourt under the basket en route to his 19 point, 7 rebound standout performance for the Panthers. However it was Sturt that found itself on the right side of a 26-18 margin at the first break, thanks to an up-tempo Sturt offence and three first-quarter triples from new US recruit Matthew Dougherty (22pts, 8reb).

Hamish Burns (11pts) provided spark off the bench for the Sabres, prompting Sturt to attack the basket after a pair of strong drives to the rack early, exposing South’s lack of speed in defensive transition and extending their lead to 53-38 at the half.

The move to a 1-2-2 defensive zone by the Panthers seemed an inspired move early in the third, as Sturt came up empty the first five trips down the floor, South successfully stifling the run of their quicker opponents, who didn’t help their cause by settling for rushed shots from outside instead.

The Panthers then punished the inexperienced Sabres on the other end with a pair of made free throws by Matthew Hirlam, quickly followed up by a triple from Jamie MacGivillivray after another Tom McKenzie defensive board.

Sturt were kept in the game by young point guard Sam Daly, who was able to knife through the South zone with embarrassing ease, but looked on the ropes when Jordan Robertson got busy late in the third, netting ¾ free throws and a mid-range jumper the final minutes to set up a gripping last quarter, having cut the deficit back to 7 points.

But that was as close as the visitors got to the home team.

Sturt eventually shook free on the back of an Andy Thomas three with 3:25 remaining to give them a 10 point buffer and some breathing space. A successfully completed three point-play by Matt Dougherty with two minutes left in the game killing off any hope of a late South revival, and giving the young Sturt team it’s first win of the season.

Sturt Sabres 90 (Matthew Dougherty 22, Andy Thomas 13, Sam Daly 12)
South Adelaide Panthers 73 (Thomas McKenzie 19, Jordan Robertson 14, Jamie MacGillivray 11)

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By Lachlan Sellar