The Southern Melbourne Saints, previously known as the St. Kilda Saints, the St. Kildas Pumas and the Westside Melbourne Saints, were an Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. The Saints competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1979 and 1991.

History

St Kilda was one of the ten inaugural, foundation teams of the NBL that competed in the league's first season in 1979, operating out of

Albert Park Basketball Stadium Albert Park Basketball Stadium was an Australian basketball centre in Albert Park, Victoria. The nine-court arena was the home of NBL side St. Kilda Saints and Melbourne United (formerly Melbourne Tigers). On 10 June 1979, Albert Park hosted t ...

at the time. As the St Kilda Pumas, the team was the powerhouse team over the league's first three seasons behind coach Brian Kerle, winning three straight minor premierships and claiming the first two NBL Championships. In 1981, after finishing the regular season in first place, the Saints decided to compete in the

FIBA Club World Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, also commonly referred to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs, or the FIBA Club World Cup, is a professional basketball clubs competition that is endorsed by FIBA and the NBA. Historically, its purpose has b ...

in Brazil rather than contest the NBL finals. The team never regained this level of success, as they failed to qualify for the semi-finals for the rest of their tenure in the NBL. In 1987, the Saints changed their name to incorporate a wider area of Melbourne rather than just the suburb of St Kilda. For the next three years, the team was known as the "Westside Saints", playing out of the 2,000-seat

Keilor Stadium Keilor Stadium is an Australian indoor arena that caters to both basketball and netball. It is located in Keilor Park, a north-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. From 1987 until 1990, the stadium was the home of National Basketball League ...

. In 1991, the team changed their name again, this time to the "Southern Melbourne Saints". Prior to the 1992 season, the Saints merged with the

Eastside Spectres Nunawading Spectres is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Melbourne East Basketball Association (MEBA), the major admin ...

to become the

South East Melbourne Magic The South East Melbourne Magic was an Australian basketball team based in Melbourne. The Magic competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1992 and 1998, and played their home games at Rod Laver Arena. In their seven seasons, the ...

Honour roll

Season by season

References

External links

{{NBLdefunct Basketball teams in Melbourne Defunct National Basketball League (Australia) teams Basketball teams established in 1979 1979 establishments in Australia 1991 disestablishments in Australia Sport in the City of Port Phillip