Moycullen will be hoping to sign off their Superleague basketball season with a victory on Saturday when they host Neptune in the Kingfisher complex in NUIG (3.45pm ).
Up until last weekend Moycullen were still chasing a play-off spot, but results have not gone their way, losing out last weekend to a physically stronger Killester who are now just two points ahead of Moycullen in a tight table.
That defeat in Dublin knocked the Galway side out of the play-off race, but they have incentive to grab their ninth win of the year in a season that has already been its best in the top ecelons of Irish basketball.
And more good news for the club is that head coach Salva Camps was named Men's SuperLeague Coach of the Month for February and will be presented with his award at half time on Saturday.
Missing Paul O’Brien, Stephen Tummon and Cian Nihill, Moycullen went into last weekend’s game understrength and it showed as the bigger Killester team eventually wore them down.
Moycullen started the game well at the offensive end with Salva Camps setting up Patrick Sullivan for a number of baskets to start the game. At the defensive end Moycullen stuck with the 2-3 zone which worked so well for them the last time the two teams met. It continued to work throughout the first half of this game as Killester struggled to make shots from the outside while Nollaig Cunningham and Patrick Sullivan did a great job on the boards, limiting Killester to second-chance points. Moycullen went in at the half up one point, 39-38.
It was in the third quarter that Killester started to pull away from the Galway side, upping the tempo and using their size advantage to build up a 16 point lead.
The young Moycullen side fought valiantly to get themselves back into the game, bringing the deficit back to nine points midway through the fourth quarter with Patrick Sullivan carrying the load for the away side on the offensive end.
All eight players who travelled to Dublin put up a brave fight , but that was as close as Moycullen got as Killester ran out 10-point winners 77-67 in the end.
Despite the disappointing result, Moycullen fans witnessed a huge effort from veteran Nollaig Cunningham, who rolled back the years and put in a superb display dominating the boards throughout the game, while also pitching in with 10 points. Cunningham and Patrick Sullivan did a terrific job battling with the interior players on the Killester side, keeping Moycullen in the game.
Moycullen: Patrick Sullivan (30 ), Nollaig Cunnigham (10 ), Patrick Lyons (7 ), Dylan Costelloe (7 ), James O’Brien (7 ), Salva Camps (6 ), Rory Gilson, Ian Burke.
• The team will host its annual table quiz on Friday March 15 in The Forge, Moycullen..
