SSE Airtricity Moycullen head to Dublin with a bounce in their step ahead of their clash with Templeogue in Saturday's Premier League basketball fixture.
It comes on the back of a hard fought win over rivals Eanna BC in the Kingfisher gym when they secured a 76-68 win.
Moycullen’s newest American signing, Raheem Lemons, also made his debut, and the graduate of Ohio’s Central State University, where he was an all-conference and all-American player, finished with 16 points and 18 rebounds.
Moycullen struggled to find baskets in the opening quarter, allowing Eanna to build an early 10-point lead. And, when they eventually found their offence with baskets from Lemons, Ronan O’Sullivan and Paul Freeman, Eanna were ahead by 24-11.
Paul Freeman, James Loughnane and Sean Candon showed their intensity in defence in the second quarter, forcing Eanna to make mistakes and turnovers. A number of players in the Moycullen rotation were able to find scores, reducing the Eanna lead to two points by half time, 37-39.
The third quarter was Moycullen’s best of the game. In continuing their defensive intensity, Candon, Lemons, Dylan Cunningham and O’Sullivan each found multiple baskets. A 6-0 run by Ronan O’Sullivan gave Moycullen their first lead of the match, much to the delight of the home faithful at the Kingfisher. Eanna had no reply, and by the end of the third Moycullen were on top, 60-53.
Moycullen continued to stifle the Eanna offence with Kyle Cunningham and Candon each picking up steals for their side. For a short time it appeared that Eanna were starting to force themselves back into the encounter as Moycullen failed to convert on a handful of offences, but regained the initiative with a pair of scores from Lemons. From that point Moycullen never looked back, closing the game with a 76-68 win.
Moycullen: Ronan O’Sullivan 20, Raheem Lemons 16, Dylan Cunningham 13, Kyle Cunningham 9, James Loughnane 7, Sean Candon 6, Paul Freeman 4, Paul O’Brien 1, Patrick Lyons, Joseph Tummon, Stephen Tummon.
