Moss Vale 74

If THE Griffith Demons could have written a script for their first game of the State League season, it would have played out exactly like their tough road game against Moss Vale on Saturday night.

Despite it being the first real test for the year, the Demons were largely clinical across the court as they found their scoring rhythm early and managed to put the Magic away late in the fourth quarter to seal their first big win for the year.

Before the game, coach Andrew Cullen was remaining grounded in his expectations of his side, but after their eight-point win, the Demons leader said there is no reason why they can't add another win on the road next weekend against Shoalhaven.

"We could have easily had our way with them because there were a few points that we squandered and we were a bit rusty early on and it showed," Cullen said.

"But all in all I couldn't complain about the performances because I had nine guys all contribute and you can't ask for much more than that.

"I got everything that I wanted to get out of that game; I got new players getting on the court and blowing out the cobwebs."

One of the those new players to impress was Cullen's brother Nick, who scorched the Magic from beyond the arc for much of the night to score a game-high 29 points with six from seven from three-point land.

With Andrew using himself sparingly off the bench, much of the Moss Vale attention in defence focused on him when he took to the court, allowing Nick to get the open looks he needed to hurt Moss Vale on the scoreboard.

Another player having a big night out was new American import Leon Rosborough, who more than lived up to his pre-game hype in scoring 18 points and dragging in 13 rebounds.

"Leon was excellent, everything that I wanted from him he gave to the team, he hit the glass and scored 18 points," Cullen said.

"He probably got at least eight points in put-backs, but that's the thing on Saturday, the people that I needed to have a good game did have a good game ? Leon to settle his nerves and my brother to get back into a rhythm."

Adam O'Callaghan, Mick Duncan and Andrew Cullen all with 10 points were also more than handy contributors to the win.

For the first three quarters of the game the sides were largely very close on the board, with Moss Vale not making the most of the free points from the stripe late in the game.

But in the final few minutes, Griffith's superior fitness started to play its part and the Demons had a final scoring spurt to claim their first big win on the road.