Dart Killester tamed the Tralee Tigers with an outstanding team performance led by MVP Paddy Kelly with 19 points to lift the Men's SuperLeague National Cup title.
The Dublin side were always in control of the match from the start and raced into an early lead with excellent baskets coming courtesy of Michael Bonaparte and Michael Goj, giving them a 13-4 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Tigers, led by Kieran Donaghy, finally got into their rhythm, but at that stage Killester had a commanding lead, with some excellent offensive play from Bonaparte, John Behan and Arnuad Dahi and finished the first quarter with a 29-19 lead.
However the national cup holders came out in the second quarter fighting to hold onto their title, outscoring their opponents by 17-9.
Tralee’s fightback was led by the American CJ Hadley and their captain Michael Quirke whose play around the boards was superb.
With less than ten seconds left on the clock, Tralee’s Greek player Paris Katsimpas' magnificent three-pointer cut his team’s deficit as they went into the interval trailing 35-31.
Donaghy came to the fore in the third period with an outstanding three-pointer, but Killester’s Goj responded with three successive baskets to hold onto their slender lead as both teams cancelled out each others scores.
With just over two minutes left on the clock in the third quarter Tralee, courtesy of Quirke, drew level before taking a 52-50 lead into the fourth and final quarter.
But Killester and Kelly stood up when it counted most and slowly clawed their way back into the game with excellent offensive play from Dahi and superb defensive play from Kelly.
The Dublin team regained the lead midway through the quarter and never relinquished it, as they battled right down to the wire to finally bring the Cup back to the capital for the first time in seven years.
'We are just delighted to win, it was such a tough game, it’s the toughest game we’ve had all year,' said MVP Kelly.
'It was fantastic, they make you play very hard, they’re a tough team and physical, so we’re delighted to have won it.
'Tigers have been outstanding this season so to beat them and in particular in a final is something to saviour.
'They fought back towards the end but our guys weren't going to let it slip today so we are delighted that the cup is coming back to DART.
'We have put a great run together in recent months and today's performance shows just what talent we have in the squad.'
Men's SuperLeague National Cup Final:
Abrakebabra Tigers: 76 (31) (CJ Hadley 20, Michael Quirke 15, Kieran Donaghy 12)
DART Killester: 82 (35) (Arnoud Dahi 22, Michael Bonaparte 21, Paddy Kelly 19)
