BURY Blue Devils coach Jason Knowles praised his sides defence and team spirit as the league leaders fought back to beat Our Lady's last week.

The Bury Grammar School-based outfit have won all four of their opening fixtures in the MABL Championship this season but were made to work hard for the 54-50 victory at mid-table Old Lady's.

"I was massively impressed with our defensive effort on the whole," said Knowles.

"The character the team showed was great.

"It was the first time we had found ourselves behind this year and the team showed great composure to claw the game back.

"It's a little concerning that we are struggling to score the ball at the moment but I'm sure that will come because on the whole we are getting good lucks at the basket.

"We need to move the ball and trust each other a little more but that takes time. Everyone contributed but a special mention goes to Leon Francote who shot the ball consistently well within his increased minutes."

The Devils started the game with just six players after a further two were delayed and Knowles opted to play a zone defence until re-enforcements arrived.

But the Devils were lacklustre and an inability to get back in transition combined with a lack of shot-making meant the Bury-based side quickly found themselves 8-0 behind.

Bury finally found a couple of buckets in the form of Ergoli Togo and Phil Stainton to break the run but Our Lady's hit back with another six-point run of there own.

With time winding down in the first quarter, Francote made a huge three to ensure Bury ended the quarter with only a single digit deficit as Our Lady's took the first quarter 14-7.

The Devils switched to their usual man-to-man defence and put more pressure on the ball during the second quarter, but despite moving the ball better on offence they were still unable to consistently knock down open shots which led to back and forward traded baskets with Stainton and Scott Mafia starting to get to bucket.

Togo's jump shot from the high post caused Our Lady's a few problems before they shifted their defence and crowded out the area but the arrival of Stu Jackson and Vitoldas Balciunas made a huge difference in the defence with Bury holding Our Lady's to just 11 points in the quarter. A buzzer beater by Knowles at the end of the half saw them close to within four.

Neither team were able to establish dominance in the third quarter. Bart Szarejko made a huge inside spin move that seemed to get Bury fired up and inspire their defence but once again a lack of ability to knock down the open shot meant that Bury were only able to close the gap to two points.

Midway through the fourth quarter in a time-out, captain Jackson gave an inspiring speech which really seemed to get under the skin of the Bury players who came out of the time out playing the type of basketball that led them to play-off victory last year. Knowles, Stainton, Francote, Balciunas, and Jackson all contributed to the scoresheet with Stainton hitting a massive three-pointer to secure the win and keep the Devils one point clear of nearest rivals Tameside Trojans at the top of the table.

Bury Blue Devils travel to fourth-placed YMCA tonight.