Moycullen are back at home this weekend hoping to get their Super League basketball season back on track when they welcome bottom-of-the-table Dublin Lions to the NUI Galway Kingfisher Gym for a 3pm clash on Monday afternoon.
It has been a difficult start for the Moycullen men, who last weekend travelled to Belfast looking to return to winning way. Frustratingly, though, the game played out as an almost carbon copy of their previous performance, and despite a great effort defensively, an unbalanced offence meant Moycullen had to chase for most of the game, losing to Belfast Star by 76-68.
Moycullen coach John Cunningham said it was tough to let that game slip.
"Like last week, we played well enough that we could have won that game,” Cunningham said, “Our three-point shooting let us down in the second half."
The Galway men had started well in the first quarter, physically proving to be a match for Belfast and their young contingent. Relying on their outside shooting, they enjoyed some success with Grant Olsson and Joseph Tummon each hitting from range to put them in the driving seat.
However, Belfast offence started to click in the second, while Moycullen struggled to take care of the ball with a handful of costly turnovers allowing the hosts to open a 10-point lead at the half.
Moycullen staged something of a comeback in the third quarter with scores from Olsson and Paddy Lyons, and early in the fourth, they had narrowed the deficit and opened up a one-point lead, mostly as a result of the defensive pressure by Lyons and Paul Kelly.
However, the lead did not last long as Moycullen’s three-point shooting began to let them down. In the final four minutes with the sides exchanging fouls and free-throws, Belfast converted all of their free shots to take the lead and hold it.
Moycullen: Grant Olsson (24 ), Paul Kelly (15 ), Joseph Tummon (9 ), James Conaire (6 ), Dylan Cunningham (6 ), Patrick Lyons (5 ), Kyle Cunningham (3 ), Conor Curran, James Lyons, Josh Marvesely, Dara Kenna. Coach: John Cunningham Asst. Coach: Gerald Lyons.
Maree at home
Maree are back on the road and will face a tough task when they face current league leaders DBS Eanna.
Maree, having suffered a defeat to Belfast Star the previous weekend, had hoped a return to Calasanctius College would give them the advantage over UCD Marian. However, in the end they lost 89-77, despite top-scoring efforts of Darin Johnson, Eoin Rockall, and Paul Freeman.
The lead had change multiple times during the game after UCD got off to a hot start through Aidan Dunne, but Maree had taken the lead just before the end of the first half and continued in the third quarter s through impressive scores from Johnson and Rockall. CD took over towards the end of the game to carry out the victory.
In the women’s Super League, Maree continued their good start to the season with a 73-54 win over Marble City Hawkes in Kilkenny, with Maree’s Aine McDonagh finishing with 18 points.
In the women's division one, NUIG Mystics will take on Ulster University in the National Cup on Saturday in the Kingfisher Gym at 3.30pm.
