DBS Éanna are the last ones standing after another action-packed weekend of Men's Super League action, as they won out 81-75 against Maree on Monday afternoon to be the only undefeated team remaining in the league following Neptune’s loss to Templeogue.
A big fourth-quarter performance from Éanna was ultimately what got them over the line as the Dubliners were trailing Maree for the first three quarters, though not much separated the teams throughout.
A superb 37-point game from Maree’s Darin Johnson caused multiple problems for the Éanna defence and despite good work from Stefan Zecevic and Marko Tomic, Maree still held a three-point lead going into the last.
A big push from the hosts in the fourth though saw them finally get out in front with some breathing space, and with Zecevic leading the scoring, along with good work from Daniel Heaney, Éanna kept their winning run intact on a final score line of 81-75.
Speaking afterwards, a relieved Darren McGovern stated: "They made it really difficult for us, we missed a lot of shots. We didn’t play well, we grinded that win out.
"Their American was brilliant today - he had 37 points, he hit everything and I thought we were doing a good job on him! He just couldn’t miss."
Griffith College Templeogue delivered Coughlan C&S Neptune their first loss of the season on Monday afternoon meanwhile, running out 91-79 point winners in the end.
Just three separated the teams at the half, Templeogue leading 49-46, while some big three pointers from Spaniard Xabier Arriaga for Templeouge began to edge them ahead in the third quarter, 66-60.
Big plays in the fourth, including nice work from Darren Townes and some big defensive stops from Jason Killeen, saw Templeogue hold out to win in the end.
Speaking afterwards head coach Mark Keenan stated: "I’m feeling great - that was a double weekend for us with the Cup game and I was worried a little about how much energy we would have after Saturday’s game, but I’m delighted. It was a good game of basketball, it was nip and tuck all the way. But we just had maybe experience and composure down the stretch to get that little gap in the last two minutes."
Elsewhere, Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin managed to hold out under extreme pressure from Belfast Star down the stretch to secure an 81-79 point win on Sunday afternoon.
Killorglin led the visitors from the off, opening up an early 24-13 first quarter lead, and pushing that out to a 43-32 point margin by the half. Good scoring from Allan Thomas and Pranus Skurdauskas kept them ahead as the third quarter ticked down, to see them lead 66-54 going into the last.
Star were not going down without a fight though, and Ben Marello, Keelan Cairns and CJ Fulton all hit some big scores in the fourth as they began to chip away at the lead.
Their hard work soon paid off as with just under 40 seconds to play, they had cut the margin back to two points. Despite their best efforts to secure a winning basket though, time ran out and Killorglin held on to win 81-79 in the end.
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Garvey’s Tralee Warriors picked up a big road win in Dublin on Sunday afternoon, running out 63-91 point winners over Pyrobel Killester in Clontarf.
Killester started the game stronger, opening up a 20-15 point lead at the end of the first, thanks to good work from Tomas Fernandez and Ciaran Roe. Tralee bounced back in style in the second quarter though, and with Jonathan Lawton leading the charge, drove into a 34-41 point lead at the half.
Warriors stayed in control in the second half, with Darragh O’Hanlon and Keith Jumper hitting some key scores to see them comfortable 63-91 point winners in the end.
UCD Marian just edged their Dublin derby with DCU Saints, winning out 75-73 in an extremely tight affair at UCD on Sunday.
DCU Saints held a narrow edge in the first half, holding a 21-26 point lead at the end of the first, and a 43-44 point lead at the half off the back of a big 31-point game from Mike Bonaparte, coupled with good scoring from Graham Brannelly and Martins Provizors.
A big third quarter from UCD followed, with Mike Garrow, Aidan Dunne and Barry Drumm leading the charge, but Saints came right back into it in the fourth quarter to tee up a thrilling finale – Marian just holding on to win by two in the end.
Down in Galway, meanwhile, Abbey Seals Dublin Lions came close to their first win of the season on Monday afternoon, but eventually lost out to hosts, Moycullen, 89-83.
The Dubliners led the game for the first three quarters off the back of good scoring from Conroy Baltimore and Romonn Nelson, to see them lead 66-70 going into the last.
A massive fourth quarter from Moycullen though – that saw them bag 16 points in the opening five minutes – sent them into a 12 point lead and they didn’t look back from there, with Paul Kelly, Grant Olsson and Daniel Vila leading the charge and despite big pressure from Lions down the stretch, the home side held on to secure the win.
