Having at one stage trailed by a whopping 26 points early in the second quarter, Garvey's Tralee Warriors produced a remarkable comeback against UCC Demons to earn a 90-84 victory in Friday night’s InsureMyVan.ie Super League clash in Tralee Sports Complex.
Indeed, the hangover from an agonising InsureMyHouse.ie Pat Duffy National Cup exit at the hands of Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig@MTU the week before, looked set to be prolonged for Tralee who found themselves 26 points adrift of Demons just over three minutes into the second quarter.
But inspired by Daniel Jokubaitis, who emerged with a game-high 21, Tralee won all of the remaining three quarters, as Caleb Jordan served up nine assists while Kieran Donaghy and Rapolas Buivydas made their presence felt under the boards with a combined 17 rebounds.
"The performance by this group, to come from 26 down, shows the belief we have in Tralee and I am so proud of how hard they battled to pull this one out of the fire" said Tralee head coach John Dowling.
Belfast Star, meanwhile, showed similar battling qualities as they survived three rounds of overtime to eventually see off a dogged EJ Sligo All-Stars outfit 98-97 in De La Salle College.
The North Conference table toppers appeared to be coasting by the half-time recess, at which point they led by 21 points, but, inspired by Chrishon Briggs who bagged 31 on the night, Sligo battled back to draw level at 77 points apiece by the final buzzer.
With Frenki Lilaj serving up 24 points and 17 rebounds and Patrick McGaharan and Conor Quinn also delivering big displays on the night, Belfast did just enough to clinch the victory.
Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig managed to keep pace with Garvey’s Tralee Warriors at the top of the South Conference after they edged a 90-87 victory away to Flexachem KCYMS in Killorglin Sports Complex.
While Terry Winn carded 24 points and 19 rebounds for the hosts, Shawdale Jones Jr drained a huge 34 points and Adrian O’Sullivan and Andre Nation combined for a further 38 for the visitors, who will now be turning their attention to Saturday’s Pat Duffy National Cup decider against UCC Demons.
Kason Harrell served up a monstrous 50 points as Pyrobel Killester beat Griffith College Éanna 110-91 to draw level with their Rathfarnham rivals in second place in the North Conference.
Only a solitary point separated the two sides as they approached the midway point of the third-quarter, but, with Harrell on fire throughout, the visitors eventually stormed to a 19-point victory.
Even a 35-point haul by William Jenkins was not enough to inspire Bright St. Vincent’s to success against Energywise Ireland Neptune, who bounced back from their Pat Duffy Cup semi-final exit with a 105-94 triumph over their Dublin rivals in Neptune Stadium.
The Cork side finished this tie with five players on double figures, including Cian Heaphy and Jordan Blount who each chalked up 21, the latter also serving up 17 rebounds and seven assists.
A disappointing second quarter, in which they were outscored by 15, proved costly for Templeogue as they went down 80-70 to Ulster University in Nord Anglia International School.
Eric Anderson led the way for the visitors with 18 points and 11 rebounds while Conor Liston netted 16 to see off a Templeogue side for whom Lonzia Tyson chalked up 18 points and as many rebounds.
Meanwhile in the Kingfisher Sports Arena, Maree surmounted a tough challenge from Maigh Cuilinn to win out 82-76, with Terence Lewis II accounting for 20 points and 12 rebounds for the winners while Grant Olsson carded the exact same for the visitors.
