THE Mandurah Magic men and women enjoyed wins against the Stirling Senators in round two of the State Basketball League on Sunday afternoon.
Coming off a loss and a win in round one, the Magic men were looking to push the ledger in their favour and did not let their fans down.
The Magic started strongly opening up a nine-point lead at the end of the first period which grew to 22 by the half.
The foot was taken off the pedal in the third with Stirling cutting the deficit to 16 points at the end of the third period.
The Magic responded in the final period with the margin growing to as much as 28 points before it was cut to 19 by the final siren.
Magic forward Taylor Mullenax top-scored with 26 points and was well supported by import Paul Hafford who scored 21 points and Ben Smith who added 19.
The Magic were on target with 52.5 per cent of shots made compared to Stirling’s 35.2 per cent.
Overall the Senators fired off 17 more three-point attempts but a combination of Magic pressure and inaccuracy cost them.
The win sees the Magic move up one position to sixth on the ladder ahead of this weekend’s double header against the Perry Lakes Hawks at 8pm at home on Saturday followed by the Perth Redbacks at 2pm on Sunday at Curtin Stadium.
The game will be the first time the Magic’s new recruit Jarrad Jackson will play his old side.
Jackson hit nine points and contributed nine assists for the Magic against Stirling in a strong an all-round effort.
In his first two games he hit 11 and 12 points.
In the women's game, the Mandurah Magic had an even spread of scorers in a 68-58 win over the Senators.
The Magic had four players in double figures with starters Casey Mihovilovich and Emma Klasztorny scoring 12 each while Ashlee Sidebottom and Shelley Boston added 10 each from the bench.
Sidebottom continued her strong form from the recent Under 20s National Championships where she averaged 13.6 points per game, and registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Stirling had the lead at quarter-time by three points, but the Magic rallied in the second to get a three point lead at half-time.
The Magic dominated the game in the third quarter, winning it 21-10 to give them a 12 point lead going into the final break.
The Magic dominated the rebounds with 47-35, including pulling down eight more boards.
Brianna Klasztorny pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with seven points.
The Magic gave a lot of game time to its players with Mihovilovich the only starter to register more than 30 minutes.
Despite the Magic having a better field goal percentage, winning it 35.5 to 29.8, they shot one from 21 from beyond the arc with Jorjah Smith hitting the only triple.
The Senators had just three players reach double figures with the starters spending more time on the court, with three players playing more than 30 minutes.
Emma Berryman was the best with 19 points while Amber Land added 16 to go along with 12 boards.
The women will play against the Perry Lakes Hawks at 6pm at home on Saturday followed by the Perth Redbacks at noon on Sunday at Curtin Stadium.
