SSE Airtricity Moycullen broke their recent losing spell in basketball's Superleague, but it was a close finish against Commercial.ie Eanna in Dublin on Friday night.
In this second match-up of the season with Eanna, it was one of Moycullen’s weaker performances of the season, but they will have been happy to get the win on the road, albeit with the last shot, 81-79.
However they now face another road trip to Dublin to take on DCU St Vincent’s on Saturday, and they will need to improve their performance against a side just three behind them on the Superleague table.
Last weekend's game marked the debut of U20 player Oisin Carey, who logged valuable minutes for Moycullen, who led 27-13 at the opening quarter's end.
Early offence from Paul Freeman and Philip Lawrence-Ricks allowed Moycullen to pull away, and despite Eanna’s tough defence, Moycullen continued to extend their lead thanks to the perimeter shooting of Dylan Cunningham, who scored two three pointers.
Moycullen continued their consistent offensive play, but poor perimeter defence allowed Eanna’s shooters to score three after three. Although Moycullen guard Patrick Lyons found his teammates for scores, finishing the game with some nice assists, Eanna’s interior presence and quickness up the court allowed them to get back into the game to finish the quarter, 48-40.
Moycullen’s defensive woes continued as they were unable to stifle Eanna’s outside scoring. However, they were able to exploit holes in Eanna's defence, thanks to James Loughnane. Paul Freeman and Philip Lawrence-Ricks rebounded well on the offensive end, setting up numerous second chance looks for forward Joseph Tummon, but Eanna’s impressive three point scoring kept them in the contest to finish the third, 66-57.
Moycullen guards Dylan Cunningham and Patrick Lyons attacked the basket vigorously for scores in the fourth quarter, but they still could not shake off Eanna. With two minutes left, Eanna, with the momentum, trailed by just three points, and it took some strong rebounding from Paul Freeman and a clutch basket from Philip Lawrence-Ricks to put the game out of reach, 81-79.
Moycullen: Philip Lawrence-Ricks (22 ), Dylan Cunningham (18 ), Patrick Lyons (12 ), Joseph Tummon (11 ), James Loughnane (10 ), Paul Freeman (8 ), Rory Gilson, Oisin Carey, Ladmy Sila.
