Ballincollig have reached their second Domino's MSL National Cup final in three years, following a tightly-fought 70-67 overtime win over Limerick Celtics at Neptune Stadium on Friday.
Josh Steel’s second three-point jump shot had Ballincollig 11-5 to the good with 4’35 to go in the opening quarter. Limerick Celtics, who were playing their first semi-final at this level, responded with an eight-point run, finished off by Ruairi Cronin’s basket, to put them in front for the first time at 13-11.
Keelan Cairns brought parity with a jump shot, before a dunk from Latavious Mitchell and additional free throw helped give the Cork side a narrow 16-15 lead by the end of the quarter.
It was level at 20 apiece two minutes into the second quarter following Finn Hughes’ three for Limerick Celtics.
A layup from Steel had Ballincollig 26-22 up at the midpoint of the quarter. A floater and a turnaround jumphot from Ciaran O’Sullivan, either side of another Mitchell dunk, had Ballincollig 32-22 in front with a little over a minute to go. Limerick Celtics responded with a Cronin three, but the last score of the half was Steel layup, to give them a 34-26 advantage.
Ballincollig stretched their lead to 13 points, 43-30, following a three by Luke O’Sullivan three minutes in. A pair of AJ Williams baskets helped reduce the deficit to 43-36, before a Latrell Jossell three restored a 10-point lead for Ballincollig.
Back-to-back threes from Cronin made it a four-point game, 50-46, with a little over two minutes remaining in the third. Abdul Wurie brought the game level, before a Cronin layup in the dying seconds completed their 12 point run, to put Limerick Celtics 52-50 ahead.
Ballincollig needed something to get them going, cue another dunk from Mitchell at the start of the fourth quarter to get their fans off their feet and bring the game level at 52-52.
AJ Williams was the Domino’s MD1 National Cup final MVP last season when Limerick Celtics lifted the Presidents’ Cup and he was getting into his groove, scoring the next six points to hand Celtics a 58-52 lead three and a half minutes in.
The game was finely poised, a pair of Adrian O’Sullivan free throws brought it level at 64 apiece with 1’47 to go. A driving layup from Williams put Celtics back in front, but he couldn’t convert the extra free throw and a Mitchell jump shot made it 66-66 each with 36.6 seconds remaining. Both sides had possession and chances in regulation, but overtime was required.
A pair of Mitchell free throws, bringing him to a game-high 31 points, nudged Ballincollig in front at the start of the additional period.
Two more from Latrell Jossell with 4.7 seconds remaining gave Ballincollig a three point advantage, before AJ Williams saw his three point attempt rim out as the full-time buzzer sounded.
