Garvey’s Tralee Warriors produced the comeback of all comebacks this evening to win out in a heart stopping, overtime battle against UCD Marian in Dublin, 89-84 in the Men’s Super League.
The Kerry men certainly lived up to their Warriors moniker as, despite being down ten at one stage as the clock ticked down (74-64), they slowly but surely began to chip away at the reigning champions’ lead. Things certainly weren’t going in their favour though, with Conor Meany on fire for UCD Marian, while Tralee’s Dusan Bogdanovic left the court due to injury and Paul Dick, Eoin Quigley and Keith Jumper were all fouled out in the crucial closing stages.
However, despite being up against it, sheer grit and determination began to shine through. As the seconds ticked down and UCD remained in the lead by one point (80-79), a foul on Kieran Donaghy saw him headed for the free throw line, where he slotted home one from two to tie the game at 80 apiece and send the game to overtime.
Reaction from @warriors_bc head coach @patpricesports after their 84-89 OT win over @UCDMarian left them 1 game away from the Irish @BballIrl Super League title pic.twitter.com/PxWcXRMDSy
— Ball in Europe (@bie_basketball) March 23, 2019
The battle continued there, with UCD edging back in front by one, but with Donaghy running the point, Tralee weren’t going down without a fight. They retook the lead 84-86 and young Irish international, Rapolas Buivydas hit home one of the most important free throws of his life to give the Tralee men a three-point cushion.
A last chance shot from UCD didn’t fall, and with just over a second on the clock, a Donaghy inbound to Buivydas saw him hit the final score of the game to win out by five points.
Now, the Men’s Super League is truly Tralee’s to lose. They face UCD Marian once more tomorrow on their home court at 5pm. Win the game and they will be crowned Super League champions for the first time in the club’s history.
Lose tomorrow, and it’s still not over, as with Templeogue winning in Moycullen this evening, it would see Tralee face off against the Dubliners in a play-off final next week to determine who will be crowned champions.
WATCH: An emotional @starryboy14 reacts to a heart stopping overtime win by @warriors_bc this evening #ThisIsSuper pic.twitter.com/h5iM6rxK50
— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) March 23, 2019
Speaking afterwards, an emotional Kieran Donaghy reacted to their win: "UCD are champions for a reason - they’re a really good team. I can’t really explain it [the win]. Five Tralee fellas at the end and we just scrapped. It looked like it was gone, and we could do nothing else but fight and scrap for it. Fergal [O’Sullivan] made a big shot – he’s been making big shots all of his life – and that got us back into it."
Elsewhere around the league, Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin kept the Kerry wins coming this evening with a big 92-87 point win over DCU Saints, while Maree ran out emphatic 96-75 point winners over Belfast Star.
In the Women’s Super League meanwhile, Fr Mathews are ready for another showdown with DCU Mercy in the coming week as they won out their Champions Trophy quarter final against Maxol WIT Wildcats 72-53. The win sees the Cork side through to the semi-final where they will meet DCU Mercy next weekend.
SATURDAY 23 MARCH RESULTS
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League
UCD Marian 84-89 Garvey’s Tralee Warriors
Maree 96-75 Belfast Star
Keanes Supervalu Killorglin 92-87 DCU Saints
Moycullen 79-105 Templeogue
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League - Champions Trophy quarter final
Fr Mathews 72-53 Maxol WIT Wildcats
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One - regular season semi-finals
Tradehouse Central Ballincollig 68-78 Abbey Seals Dublin Lions
DBS Éanna 95-78 Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One - League Cup quarter finals
Trinity Meteors 69-79 Phoenix Rockets
Portlaoise Panthers 58-62 Team Tom McCarthys St Marys
