Dominos Mens Super League R12
UCD Marian 83
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors 85
For the third time this season Garvey’s Tralee Warriors got the better of UCD Marian as Jordan Perkins hit the winning score in a chaotic finale to see the Tralee side edge a cliffhanger by 85-83. A week after knocking the Dublin college side out of the Cup at the semi-final stage, the Warriors doubled down to edge a tight contest at Belfield in what proved to be a very useful warm up for the National Cup final next Saturday.
The Warriors brought the momentum from last week in Neptune Stadium into the opening quarter of the contest and fired their way to a 18-10 lead by the midpoint of the quarter. Iggy Hunte was back to his best shooting 13 of those points with Cian Sullivan also on the mark with a double. At the other end a Sean Fitzpatrick major got UCD on the board, another from Bruce Saintilus and a quickfire seven points from Sean O’Flynn cut the Warriors lead to 4. Jordan Perkins put his name on the scoresheet adding 6 points in a minute for Warriors before Marian unleashed a scoring spree to register the next 12 points without reply. Four baskets from Hinton and another from Ronan Byrne turned a 7 point deficit into a 30-25 UCD lead at quarter time.
Daniel Jokubaitis gave Warriors the perfect start to the second quarter before Olaf Michalczuk, as he did last week in Cork, announced his arrival on the court by swishing two stunning back to back three pointers to see the Warriors take the lead by 33-32 forcing UCD to call a timeout. Out of the timeout James Connaire struck from distance for the hosts before Jordan Perkins pulled up with an instant reply in kind but Connaire with the very next play repeated the dose to put the hosts back in front midway through. Marian hit foul trouble with 5 minutes still on the clock and after Steven Bowler drilled a major score the Warriors hit 6 from 8 from the free throw line to maintain a narrow advantage. However another late rally from Marian saw Hinton and Jack Kehoe in range and another from Saintilus and a three pointer from Tom Maguire saw the students edge ahead by 55-54 at the half time break.
Soltiris Miltiadis added to the Marian lead with his first score of the night but Jordan Perkins then struck from either side of the three point line to put the Warriors ahead for just the second time in the game. A major strike from Saintilus was bettered at the other end when Michalczuk conjured up another couple moments of magic to repeat his trick from the second quarter and keep the Warriors in front. Keelan Crowe added his name to the scoresheet but a double from Saintilus late on wrestled the lead back for UCD to keep their one point halftime advantage in place up 71-70 going into the final quarter.
Hinton and Ronan Byrne hit a basket apiece early in the fourth but Cian Sullivan’s third score of the night kept just two points between the teams midway through a tense but exciting final quarter. Jokubaitis levelled with a tough finish and Perkins followed up with a stylish three from beyond the arc but a double from Byrne maintained Marian’s slender lead before Jokubaitis and Saintilus were flawless from the line to preserve the status quo. Inside the final minute a Warriors foul in midcourt handed James Connaire the chance to win the game for the hosts but he rimmed out with both attempts. Jordan Perkins nailed a two point jumper with the next play to put the Warriors up by 1 before a breathless finale saw UCD denied with three separate efforts at the Warriors board before Sean Fitzpatrick was called for an offensive foul allowing Iggy Hunte to swish the insurance score at the other end and seal the 85-83 win.
Scorers:
UCD Marian: Bruce Saintilus 25, Zach Hinton 21, Ronan Byrne 8
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors: Iggy Hunte 27, Jordan Perkins 21, Olaf Michalczuk 12
Next up for Warriors is their chance to capture the Pat Duffy National Cup for the second time in their short history when they step onto the court at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght to take on keen rivals Ballincollig in what promises to be a cracking contest. Tip off next Saturday night is at 8.00pm.