After a hard-fought tussle between the rival sides, it was Simon Conn who prevailed, posting 22 points, nine boards and three assists to set the Sandringham Sabres up for a 108-95 defeat of the Waverley Falcons.

Buoyed by the return of Joe Ingles (eight points, two rebounds, three assists) from national duty, the Sabres raced out to a 29-18 lead by the first break and extended that margin to a massive 23 points by the end of the third term.

Burston contributed 14 points, 11 boards, two assists for the Falcons who, despite a fourth-quarter surge, went down to the Sabres by 13 points.

The win gave Sandringham a second victory for the weekend, following their 111-82 defeat of Diamond Valley on Saturday night.

In other BigV action across the weekend Brent Hobba (25 points, 10 boards, two assists) and the Dandenong Rangers went down 109-95 to Hume City on Saturday night before bouncing back to post a 109-77 win (11 points, eight boards, three assists) over Latrobe City on Sunday.

In the SEABL, Matt Shanahan’s Ballarat Miners went down 105-82 against the Frankston Blues, then suffered a six-point loss to the Kilsyth Cobras.

Also on the losers’ list was Shannon Seebohm, whose AIS outfit was outdone 113-82 by the Albury Wodonga Bandits.

And Luke Martin’s New Zealand NBL campaign came to an end on Saturday night when the Waikato Pistons went down in overtime to the Nelson Giants.

The Pistons trailed at every break, entering the final quarter down 71-58. But a 19-30 point final term in favour of the Pistons saw the scores tied at the end buzzer and the game headed for overtime.

With 14 points, three boards and five assists for the night, Martin was among his side’s best, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Giants storming home to a 109-103 win to secure their spot in the New Zealand NBL grand final.