Moycullen Basketball, buoyed by their latest win, are back on the road this weekend when they face Dublin Inter in the premier league.
On the last occasion the two sides met, the game went down to the wire, but it was the Dublin outfit that edged the contest by 69-61. However, boosted by the weekend’s win over Templeogue, Moycullen will travel with greater confidence in hopes of repeating the outstanding team performance that secured the 85-64 win over Templeogue last weekend when Mike Callaghan contributed 35 points and 15 rebounds.
Moycullen went ino the match knowing defence was crucial if they were to come out on top against their Dublin opponents and so it proved in front of a packed house in the Kingfisher on Saturday evening.
While the first half was free scoring from both teams, the second-half defensive effort from SSE Renewables Moycullen was excellent - limiting Templeogue to 23 points in total and laying the foundation to a well-deserved win.
A solid start was vital to help settle the home team and, with Tomas Gilson once again doing a nice job on the guard spot, they provided Callaghan some good looks that he converted to keep pace with the visitors from Dublin who started red hot.
Templeogue had edged into a one-point lead by end of the quarter, but Stephen O’Brien provided a great start to the second when knocking down back-to-back threes to give SSE Renewables an early lead. It was one they never relinquished as Dylan Cunningham did an excellent job in limiting the visitors’ American to any type of decent look at the basket. And, with Callaghan continuing to torment his opponents, the lead was up to six point at the half.
With lessons learned from previous close games, Moycullen went into the second half knowing their defence was critical. As a result the team extended the lead to 17 points with some great fast break scores from Paul O’Brien and solid inside play from Callaghan.
SSE Renewables struggled to find scores in the final quarter, but they also kept their opponents in check. An inspired Darragh Mulkerrins connected on two excellent scores when Templeogue had hit some big threes to give them a glimmer of hope. With Ronan O’Sullivan finishing some aggressive inside moves, Moycullen were able to enjoy the last few minutes of the game in front of another great home crowd.
Moycullen: Mike Callaghan 35, Paul O’Brien 11, Stephen O’Brien 10, Dylan Cunningham 9, Darragh Mulkerrins 7, Ronan O’Sullivan 7, Eoghan Maxwell 4, Tomas Gilson 2, Gerald Lyons, Ian Burke, Nollaig Cunningham.
