Moycullen saw off the challenge of Munster rivals Neptune by 86-64 in the u-20 men's National Cup semi-final in the Mardyke Arena on Saturday evening.
The Galway side had fallen behind in the opening exchanges, but Stephen O’Brien began to exert his influence as the quarter progressed, bagged 10 points, and Moycullen raced into a 10-point lead midway through the period.
Neptune fought back to just three points, 17-20, at the end of the first quarter and the margin was down to a single point when Glen Lyons hit a basket at the start of the second. However the Moycullen men pulled further ahead again with Joseph Tummon, Kyle Cunningham and Sean Condon on target.
A wonderful rebound jumper from Jamie Beadle kick-started a mini-revival for Neptune to close the gap again, but Rory Gilson helped Moycullen to stretch their advantage as they headed into the break 37-29 in front.
Moycullen gradually began to put some distance between themselves and their Munster rivals in the third quarter, pushing themselves into a 17-point lead, thanks in no small part to the deadly trio of Sean Candon, O’Brien and Gilson.
Moycullen led 62-46 at the break - a lead which they held comfortably.
Coach Nollaig Cunningham said many of the players had been involved in the u-18's earlier defeat, but had shown great character to come back and get a win.
"I think once we showed a little bit of composure and got the options that we wanted, the lads did a really good job of knocking down the shots. Got a couple of really big performances from the lads, so we are really happy, especially after the disappointment of losing the under 18 [semi-final] this morning."
SSE Airtricity Moycullen top scorers: Rory Gilson 28, Stephen O'Brien 24, Sean Candon 15.
In the u-18 men's cup semi-final Moycullen were beaten by Fr Matthews 63-45. Moycullen's top scorers were Kyle Cunningham 15, Rory Heffernan 10, and Connor Curran 8.
