The Sturt Sabres have run out comfortable 21-point winners over the Norwood Flames Saturday night at Mars basketball stadium after a close first three quarters.

Both teams started the game rather poorly missing seven straight field goals between them, until Norwood big man Edward Millard slammed down a huge dunk.

Sturt continued to miss their shots as the Flames broke away early to an 8-point lead.

Norwood was dominating the paint, as the Sabres just couldn’t seem to penetrate the strong defense.

Sturt’s John Marriot took advantage of his height putting up a big block on Norwood’s Keith Krause as he attempted a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter.

The slow start was a thing of the past as both sides kicked into top gear and the crowd were witness to constant end-to-end scoring.

With Marriot no-where near him, Krause took his chance for a three-pointer and buried it to give the Flames a 5-point lead.

Sturt’s innaccuracy on their free throws was costing them until Matthew Dougherty hit a huge 3-pointer late in the first to reduce the margin to four points at quarter time.

As the second quarter commenced, Sturt looked like a different team as a bevy of field goals continued to drop, whilst at the other end the Sabres shut down the Flames ability to score in the key.

Norwood managed to find space to shoot however as Kraus continued to hit 3-pointers, following a fast rebound and break.

The Flames star player Millard began to heat up as he used his tremendous strength to break through the Sabres zone and continue to score, including several 3-point plays.

Norwood’s entire team seemed to go cold in the second half of the second quarter and they couldn’t collect a single point for the final five minutes.

Dougherty just managed to beat the shot clock as he dropped another 3-pointer late in the second to see Norwood leading by just one point at half time.

As the second half commenced Millard seemed determined to drag his team to victory as he continued to score.

Sturt however were prepared and they boarded up the defense and effectively left the Flames to shoot field goals.

Dougherty then hit his third 3-pointer of the game however on the night recorded a mediocre 3-11 from beyond the line.

Sturt finished the quarter with a seven-point lead heading into the fourth as Sam Daly hit a buzzer beater 2-pointer to close out the third.

The Sabres looked an opposite version of themselves from the first quarter as they started the fourth superbly.

Strong defense of the paint, coupled with players continuously hitting their shots gave Sturt a big confidence boost.

Millard was still hoping to claim the win until an unfortunate event midway through the final quarter saw the star performer injured with what looked like an ankle problem.

With 22 points and 10-18 shooting it was clear that Millard would have been crucial to mounting a Flames victory, but unfortunately did not return.

Stats Webcast

Final score: Sturt Sabres 72 – 51 Norwood Flames

Sturt: Marriot (15 points, 11 rebounds) Gavranich (18 points, 8 rebounds)

Norwood: Krause (10 points, 6 rebounds) Millard (22 points, 1 rebound)

By James Hetherington