The final week of the Basketball Ireland Super League season sees Moycullen host back-to-back home games in NUIG Sports Centre. First up on Saturday at 3pm Moycullen face Kerry side Killorglin, and Sunday at 4pm the visitors are the famed Neptune BC of Cork City.
Moycullen has historically enjoyed success at underage and senior rank against both these clubs, but this year the Galway outfit has struggled. And, on the back of a series of recent losses, Moycullen have little to play for in terms of silverware, but head coach John Cunningham is keen to finish the season on a positive note.
“A colossal amount goes into having a Super League team, both from the players and the club as whole," he says. "We would love, for that reason if nothing else, to finish on a positive and hopefully two wins in front of our home fans.
“We have played well at times recently but struggled perhaps to score in stretches. If we can find a shooting touch, we know from past results we can beat anyone. We need to find that in time for the weekend because that is it, the season ends and it is a long wait for October and a chance for redemption.”
The schedule of games for Moycullen is Saturday at 3pm against Killorglin followed up by a 4pm meeting on Sunday against Neptune.
The individual match-ups on paper look a tough challenge for the Galwegians, having lost on the road to Killorglin back in October 90 to 64 and to Neptune 96 to 71 in February.
However, both defeats, and the size of the margins, will have come as somewhat of a shock and Moycullen will hope that they merely represent bad days at the office rather than a gap in talent or ability.
The weekend will tell the true story and present a good measure of the value of home advantage where one would expect a healthy home crowd for the last weekend of the season before Superleague basketball takes a long break until the October 2022 restart.
Key for Moycullen will be the continued excellent play of Grant Olsson and the recent hot shooting from Kyle Cunningham along with the leadership and steady hand shown by Eoghan Kelly at the point guard position.
Those virtues were not enough last weekend unfortunately as Moycullen fell to local rivals NUIG in the final Galway derby game of the season, 70 to 86.
A rip-roaring start to the third quarter proved decisive for the nominal visiting team, as they drove home their advantage to see out a crucial win after the teams had been nip and tuck throughout the first half.
A crucial turning point came right at the death of the first half when a missed opportunity by Moycullen was followed up by a three point play in the closing seconds from NUIG to give the latter a six point lead at the interval.
With the large crowd in attendance expecting a tight and tense second half, such hopes were mercilessly dashed by NUIG and particularly the at times unstoppable Jeryn Lucas, as the students went on a big run to start the third quarter.
When the dust had settled, Moycullen found themselves having gone from the one basket deficit that had existed for most of the first half to a twenty point hole entering the fourth quarter.
It was to prove far too big a gap and while Moycullen, led by superb individual efforts by Grant Olsson and Kyle Cunningham, did get the lead back to 12, they could never draw closer.
In the end, NUIG have to be credited for a fully deserved win as Oranmore man Eoin Rockall masterfully orchestrated a devastating import quartet of Deondre Jackson, Lovre Tvrdic, Jeryn Lucas and Luka Krajic.
NUIG Maree
NUIG Maree also face two fixtures at the NUIG Sports Centre with Tradehouse Central Ballincollig the first visitors on Saturday at 7pm; and Bright DUC Saints on Sunday at 12 noon.
