Garvey's Tralee Warriors 86-74 UCD Marian
Garvey's Tralee Warriors are into the Domino’s MSL National Cup final following a 86-74 win over UCD Marian at Neptune Stadium on Saturday.
Daniel Jokubaitis led the way for the Kerry side with 27 points and eight rebounds, with big performances from their American duo Jordan Perkins and Irshaad Hunte too.
John Dowling’s side last won the cup in 2021/22 and will face Ballincollig, who defeated Limerick Celtics 70-67 after overtime on Friday. The final will take place at 8pm on Saturday, 17 Janaury 17th at the National Basketball Arena.
UCD opened up an early advantage thanks to a three from James Connaire and a put back by Zachary Hinton which put UCD Marian 16-12 up five and a half minutes into the contest.
The teams exchanged threes, Perkins was cancelled out by UCD Marian’s Hinton, only for Jokubaitis to land once more for Garvey’s Tralee Warriors to nudge them 20-19 up with three minutes to go.
Warriors finished the quarter strongly, a second Perkins three and Eoin Quigley’s basket would help them to a 28-23 lead by the end of it.
Tralee opened up a nine-point lead, 33-24, after a Jokubaitis free throw two and a half minutes into the second quarter.
UCD Marian needed something to spark them, cue Bruce Saintilus who drained back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to three points, 33-30. He’d scored 18 points at that point and finish with a game-high 30.
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors extended their lead once more, a Jokubaitis layup and a free throw made it a ten-point game, 44-34, with a minute and a half to go in the quarter. A Hinton basket reduced the deficit slightly by the half time, Garvey’s Tralee Warriors 44-36 ahead.
UCD Marian brought it to a three-point game, 53-50, following Hinton’s second three of the quarter, four and half minutes into the third quarter. And the game was level a minute later after Jack Kehoe’s three.
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors would lead 60-55 by the end of the third, thanks to a Quigley three and free throws by Hunte and Perkins.
Two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter it was a nine-point game, 70-61 after a Jokubaitis three, bringing his tally to 20, and a Perkins basket.
Jokubaitis was in irresistible form, a lovely step-back three and two more baskets from Lithuanian helped put Garvey’s Tralee Warriors in the driving seat, 77-66.
Hunte then unloaded a dunk midway through the quarter and it looked certain to be their day, with momentum very much in their favour and that is how it panned out, as they secured 86-74 win.
Jokubaiits, who finished with 27 points, said: "It’s all about the team effort, we talked at half-time. Our big guy Irshaad (Hunte) probably had four or five points at half-time, but the job he did with his effort – rebounds, blocks – it was unbelievable. With those four points he was probably the best player in our team by half-time."
It’s a second final for Warriors and Jokubaitis, he added: "It means everything, at this stage now I am 31, I probably don’t have many years left. We have five or six guys from 2022 who had experience there, so I hope it helps us. Obviously there is nothing to compare to Ballincollig, they have they have experience as well, I think it will be great."
UCD Marian: Jack Keogh (3), Sean O’Flynn (2), Daniel Conway (0), Tom Maguire (0), Javier Comesana (DNP), James Connaire (5), Ronan Byrne (0), Sean Fitzpatrick (7), Sotiris Miltiadis (0), Zachary Hinton (27), Bruce Saintilus (30), Cian Teirnan (0).
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors: Irshaad Hunte (10), Jordan Perkins (18), Olaf Michalczuk (6), James Friel (DNP), James Fernane (0), Daniel Bowler (4), Keelan Crowe (0), Padraig Fleming (0), Daniel Jocubaitis (27), Steven Bowler (6), Cian Sullivan (5), Eoin Quigley (10).
