The Saints led by 20 points at quarter-time, but their inaccuracy in front of goal allowed the Lions to lead midway through the final term before they battled back to register the 14.13 (97) to 13.3 (81) win.
Two goals to Justin Sherman to start the last quarter saw the Lions lead it by nine points, but Leigh Montagna gave his side a lead they did not surrender when he goaled in the 14th minute.
Stephen Milne was quiet to three-quarter time, but exploded into action in the last with his three goals proving pivotal.
Montagna was instrumental for St Kilda with 33 possessions and he had plenty of help with Brendon Goddard (31), 200-gamer Lenny Hayes (31) and Luke Ball (26) all prominent.
Justin Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt were the dominant forwards on the day with four goals apiece.
Clinton Jones had the job on Travis Johnstone and he kept the Lions' playmaker to just 11 touches while gathering 23 of his own.
Joel Macdonald fought bravely in defence for the Lions and finished with 33 disposals with Simon Black (27), Jared Brennan (26) and Jed Adcock (27) all busy.
Jonathan Brown had an entertaining duel with Sam Fisher and finished with three goals.
St Kilda started strongly with Riewoldt goaling inside the first two minutes, but the Lions did well to soak up the early pressure and evened the scores through Brown 11 minutes in.
The Saints kept coming, however, and got reward for hard work when Montagna, Michael Gardiner, who also had 31 hitouts, and Koschtizke got on the score sheet to set up a 20-point lead at the first break.
But just when St Kilda looked poised to run away with it the Lions successfully turned the contest into an arm wrestle. With one-on-one duels across the ground there were plenty of stoppages as the Saints struggled to get any run going.
Daniel Bradshaw got away from Zac Dawson to bag two goals from outside 50 and narrow the margin, but the Saints slowly regained the upper hand as the quarter progressed.
Riewoldt slotted his second, but it would be his side's only major for the term as several shots on goal were sent wide with eight attempts yielding just 1.7.
Young Lions Matt Austin and James Polkinghorne goaled late in the quarter to compound Ross Lyon's troubles and slice St Kilda's lead to just eight points at half-time.
Twin towers Koschitzke and Riewoldt stood tall to mark and goal after the restart, but then the Lions made their move.
Tyro Aaron Cornelius had his hands full early playing in defence on Koschitzke before Michael Voss moved him forward where he booted his first AFL goal after Brown had slotted his second as the Lions surged.
Polkinghorne bobbed up for his second and when Black converted a free kick inside 50 in the 20th minute the Brisbane Lions had their first lead of the match.
Cornelius was obviously a lot happier to be roaming the forward line and took a nice contested mark in the goal square to put the Lions further in front. The Saints continued to spray the ball up the other end before Koschitzke out-muscled Macdonald to mark and goal in the shadows of three-quarter time.
The Lions led it by just three points as the final term got underway, but Sherman bombed one home from long range to have Saints' fans exchanging nervous glances.
Sherman's second 10 minutes later had the Lions sniffing an upset, but St Kilda's ascendancy at the clearances set up a quick three-goal burst.
Brown made it a three-point game with his third, but goals to Riewoldt and Milne secured the club's ninth win of the season.
St Kilda 4.2 5.9 8.12 14.13 (97)
Brisbane Lions 1.0 5.1 10.3 13.3 (81)
GOALS
St Kilda: Koschitzke 4, Riewoldt 4, Milne 3, Montagna 2, Gardiner
Brisbane Lions: Brown 3, Bradshaw 2, Sherman 2, Polkinghorne 2, Cornelius 2, Austin, Black
BEST
St Kilda: Montagna, Hayes, Ball, Koschitzke, Gilbert, Riewoldt, Goddard
Brisbane Lions: Brennan, Black, Stiller, Power, Clarke, Sherman, Bradshaw
INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil
Brisbane Lions: Proud (hip flexor) replaced in selected side by Collier, Bradshaw (cut hand)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Meredith, Keating
Official crowd: 30,673 at Docklands
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
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