Titans Basketball Club's U18 boys have advanced to the U18 National Cup qualifiers in November after winning the preliminary competition at the weekend.
The Galway boys will join Malahide and UCD Marian at Gormanston in a pool for the qualifiers after Titans overcame Dublin Lions, Moycullen and St Vincent's Dublin in Cork.
Titans enjoyed a comfortable win over Dublin Lions, after they turned it up a gear in the third quarter. Malik Talim and Chidera Okeke owned the boards, Joe Coughlan controlled the tempo, Matthew Sweeney hit some big threes, and Ben Kelly finished strong down the middle for an opening 79-35 victory.
Next up was Moycullen, near neighbours and current National Cup U18 champions, and once again they closed out the game after a tight first half. Young guns, Daragh Gleeson, Dean and Joseph Coughlan, Comghail McCormack, Brian Cheege and Brendan Hardiman ran the floor, pressed full court and finished some wonderful transition offences to close out the game 99-55.
In the final game, Titans met the high-flying St Vincent's Dublin, who put Titans to the test. Led by the dynamic Ben Kelly, supported by by Matthew Sweeney's prolific outside shooting, and defence from Talim and Okeke these four experienced Irish Internationals players brought their A game. However they could not shake Joey Boylan's boys, and it was neck and neck up until the final minutes when the Titans pulled ahead to take the win 79-67.
Titans : Ben Kelly; Brian Gaffney; Chidera Okeke; Brian Chegge; Daragh Gleeson, Malik Talim;Front- Brendan Hardiman; Dean Coughlan; Matthew Sweeney; Joe Coughlan; Comghail McCormack. Coach, Jack Considine; team manager Melanie Kelly.
