Falkirk Fury lose out in crucial SBC Senior Men Division 1 clash at rivals St Mirren

The Sony Centre sponsored side had shots to win the game in the closing seconds after making a strong comeback in the final quarter but couldn’t continue their excellent run.

Starting guard Bantu Burroughs did not play through injury issues with Fury's exciting new acquisition at the guard spot - student Ammar Ilyas – also not available.

The opening two quarters saw Saints take the first with an 18-14 scoreline with Fury the second with a 19-16 scoreline. The third stanza proved to be Saints’ best period with a 20-12 scoreline handing them a nine-point lead going into the final period.

In that final quarter, they moved to 12 points clear after two minutes before Fury's Finlay Hendry hit four threes, bringing it back in touch.

However, Saints held on with the visitors missing a number of key chances.

Murray Hendry had a big game with 29 points personal for Fury while Ali Fraser was on 14 points with Finlay Hendry on 12 points.

“This was a tough loss, but in all honesty we did not deserve to win had these shots connected in the final seconds,” Fury head coach John Bunyan admitted. “Full credit to St Mirren for frustrating our offence.

“We were very poor in transition and our rebounding was extremely poor. Our execution was simply not good enough.

“We struggled to adapt to fewer guards on the court and players in both teams were clearly frustrated that the officials only saw 18 fouls between two teams battling for top spot in the league.

"Murray carried the team with younger brother Finlay almost getting us a win with a great fourth quarter performance.

“We move on and now play in an excellent tournament over the festive break, where we need to use the quality friendly games to continue to work towards a more cohesive approach at both ends of the floor.”

Fury’s senior men will play Boroughmuir Blaze and Gloucester City Kings in the Bill McInnes Christmas Tournament at the Crags SC in Edinburgh on Saturday, December 30.