Treble triumph for Falkirk Fury as senior men complete stunning season with SBC Play-Offs victory

The Sony Centre sponsored side swept Stirling Knights aside in the semi-final before going on to defeat long-time rivals St Mirren 93-64 in the final four final.

And that play-off triumph adds to Fury’s Scottish Cup trophy and SBC Division 1 Championship title. They’ve now been play-off winners three times.

The Falkirk club have now secured seven separate trophies across the campaign so far across the age groups – with the chance to seal more this coming weekend when the under-16 and under-18 final four event takes place in Dundee.

Boroughmuir Blaze, who were surprisingly knocked out of the final four, losing to St Mirren in the semi-finals, were expected by many to be finalists after going head-to-head all season long up against Fury.

The treble chase began with Bunyan’s team facing Stirling Knights, and that semi-final was a closely-contested tie.

Knights led at the end of the first period with an 18-16 lead. They stayed on top taking a 35-30 lead into the locker room at the half. Fury's Ammar Ilyas hit a timely three point shot just at the end of the second period to keep the score close at five points between the teams.

The third period continued to see Fury fail to break clear despite previously taking down Knights in their three league games by an average of 20 points.

It took a Murray Hendry two point play to give Fury the lead by one at 60-59 going into the final stanza.

A quick three by Fury ace Jonny Bunyan saw the Falkirk side then move four points clear.

And with two minutes to play - Fury had edged slowly out to a 13 point lead as they edged closer to a final berth.

Knights continued to put points on the board, mainly in the form of Jack Hencher, who hit a game winning 40 points, but he could not close the gap with Fury finishing with an 82-75 scoreline.

Fury's top scorers in the semi-final were Ali Fraser on 25 points and Jonny Bunyan on 23 points with five threes. Murray Hendry had 13 points with Eddy Leginas on 9 points and Ammar Ilyas on 7 points.

The final, which was played the next day on Sunday, then saw Fury face St Mirren.

Fury were focused from the start and despite a close opening quarter that saw the Sony sponsored side lead 18-17, it was the second quarter that saw Fury take the game with an astonishing 32-8 period.

Fury were on fire, closing down Saints’ offence and taking a 50-25 lead in at the half.

It was a strong 23-2 run that saw Fury take total control of the game with seven minutes of the second period remaining.

During that phase, Lithuanian Ziggy Dauksas made a huge impact off the bench with former BBL trio Bunyan, Fraser and Hendry also racking up points.

The third period saw a Bunyan two point play push the lead to 27 points but a St Mirren 10-0 run that followed brought the game back to 17 points.

A 21-20 third period for Fury followed by a 22-19 final period gave Fury an impressive 93-64 win.

Top scorers in the final were Fraser on 31 points with Bunyan on 20 points. Hendry hit 15 points while Dauksas scored 13 points. Hendry once again completed a double-double with 12 rebounds.

"Winning in three different formats is never easy and while we have achieved that a number of times previously, taking one title in a season is so special,” head coach Bunyan beamed.

“It is all down to the commitment and effort from the players throughout what has been a long and gruelling season, especially in the past few weeks where we have had a tough and far from easy schedule.

“Our semi-final saw us dig deep to get the win and then to really put on a show in the second quarter of the final and that was a real testimony to the focus and energy of the team.

"Throughout the season it has been a combined team effort in training, on the road and in front of our great fans, where we remained unbeaten all season.

"Winning 24 of our 26 games across the three competitions came from having the best defensive record in the league and a multiple way to put points on the board.

"We took no game for granted as there are so many great teams and players that we competed against every week.

"Ali, Jonny and Murray have regularly put big numbers up for us and played great defence, but the whole team has played its part. Our Lithuanian duo of Eddy - a key player every game - and Ziggy who went from three minutes in the semi-final to 28 mins and 13 points in the final showed how he was ready to step up when needed.

“Adnan, Javon, Finlay, Ammar, Keith and Bryan have all played big parts during the season on and off court and our junior player Daniel has been great in practice and has benefitted from being part of a formidable group.

“The team has focused in and we went on an almost four-month winning run as we picked off each title in February, March and April.

"Thanks to all our sponsors and the Falkirk Herald for keeping basketball and the club in the limelight.”

Falkirk Fury’s team

Keith Bunyan (C), Eddie Leginas, Jonny Bunyan, Adnan Jalil, Murray Hendry, Ali Fraser, Ziggy Dauksas, Javon Daniels, Finlay Hendry, Ammar Ilyas, Bryan Munnoch and Daniel Velykyy.