Moycullen host the first of a series of home games over the next three weekends when they take on Cork City’s Neptune on Saturday (7pm ) in the NUIG Sports Arena.
A bright January yielded two dramatic wins in an otherwise difficult season results wise for Moycullen in the top flight of Irish basketball, and head coach John Cunningham is eager to see a strong finish in front of supporters.
“It is really important for us to put in three good performances, hopefully get some results, and just give everyone in the club, supporters, and families of the squad, a good feeling to end the year,” Cunningham says.
“Neptune present an unusual challenge in that they score so freely, and in so many different ways they are hard to plan for. That said, I think we have a few places we can get at them, so at least it should be fairly high scoring and entertaining for spectators on Saturday evening.”
Moycullen will undoubtedly be looking forward to the comforts of home following a brutal road trip to Cork that ended in a comprehensive 88-53 defeat at the hands of Ballincollig.
The league leaders, who have lost only once in the league all season, jumped ahead with Irish international point guard Adrian O’Sullivan leading the charge for the men from the Rebel County.
Although baskets from Grant Olsson, Kyle Cunningham and Niall Bree were registered for Moycullen, Ballincollig were unstoppable in the opening quarter, establishing a 24-12 point lead.
Worryingly for Moycullen, five separate Ballincollig players had contributed to their impressive early tally, with O’Sullivan netting six of his game-high 20 points in the opener.
Moycullen steadied the ship somewhat in the second period and long-range three pointers scored by Olsson, Dylan Cunningham and recent Sigerson cup winning star Eoghan Kelly saw their offence flow a little better, resulting in 16 points in the quarter.
But there was no stopping the fast-flowing Ballincollig attack, and their import duo of American Andre Nation and Slovenian Milorad Sedlarevic began to truly stamp their imprint on the game with a series of fine scores that extended the Ballincollig lead to 45-28 at the half-time break.
At this juncture, Moycullen could have been forgiven for throwing in the towel and turning their sights towards an upcoming three-game home stretch. To their credit, they fought hard to claw back the league leaders on their home turf with James Lyons, Bree and Ayberk Taylan all making fine contributions.
A well organised and increasingly stingy zone defence from Ballincollig hampered Moycullen finding any scoring flow, however, and returns of just 11 and 14 points from the third and fourth quarter reflected the home side’s dominance in defence. And Ballincollig’s attacking prowess showed no signs of abating either, as they clocked up 23 and 20 points over the final two periods respectively, to win all four quarters and finish with a comprehensive and well deserved victory.
