Loftus Recycling : 71
St Brendan’s : 74
After a brave battle that went down to the proverbial wire, Team Loftus Recycling, Ballina, suffered a four point defeat to Meadowlands St. Brendan’s, in Tralee, in this Round five National Basketball League (Division 1 ) game on Saturday evening. The home crowd certainly got full value for their money with the result in doubt right up to the final seconds of the match. With 32 seconds left on the clock, just a single point separated the sides but, with the vastly experienced player coach, Liam MacHale, fouled out of the game with two minutes remaining, a close finish was always going to be difficult for the visitors. The home side added two points from the free throw line to extend their lead to three points with 17 seconds remaining. As Team Loftus struggled desperately to set up a 3-pointer, to send the game to extra time, another foul resulted in St. Brendan’s scoring the final point of the game from the free throw line , with just six seconds remaining.The Ballina side had earlier suffered a major blow when Paul Barrett injured his ankle and was forced out of the game just before half time.
Loftus Recycling opened the scoring with a basket by Peter Papik but St.Brendan’s gave an early indication of what was to follow when Fergal O’Sullivan hit the first of his four 3-point baskets to give his side a lead that they were to retain until mid way through the third period which turned out to be Ballina’s best of the game. Overall, it as the Kerry men’s outside shooting, throughout the game, that was to prove the crucial difference between the sides as Team Loftue managed just two 3-point baskets compared to eight for Tralee. Ballina’s failure to take several offensive rebounds in the early stages also cost them dearly. The hugely experienced US native, Ricardo Leonard, was very influential for the Tralee side in the early stages as he directed play and hit 5 points in the first quarter. For Ballina, Paul Barrett hit eight points for his side in the first period while Willie Poplewell added two more. At he end of the quarter, St. Brendan’s had built up a 7- point lead with the score at 21:14.
In the second period, Liam McHale entered the fray for Ballina and made an immediate impact as he grabbed rebounds and hit three baskets for his team as well as combining well with Dara McGarrity who put in another excellent performance even though he was suffering the effects of a stomach bug which had affected him in the build up to the game. Despite the best efforts of the visitors, however, St.Brendan’s had extended their lead by a point at half time with the score at 39:31. While the visitors suffered the loss of Barrett, the team’s most consistent outside shooter, the third period proved to be Ballina’s most productive as Toafic Mustapha and Papic came into the game more and McHale continued to direct operations all over the court. Mustapha hit two baskets in quick succession for Team Loftus and McGarrity landed a big 3-pointer.Mustapha then got a good steal in mid court and raced to the basket to dunk the ball and level the match at 44:44 mid way through the period. Papic, MacHale and young Blaise Devanney added baskets for Ballina and they extended their lead to six points with three minutes left in the quarter. However, the Kerry men responded and, helped by two more 3-pointers, from O’Sullivan and Liam Culloty, they levelled the match by the end of the period with the score at 57:57.
In the final period, the lead changed hands a number of times as both sides struggled for supremacy. Six Team Loftus players scored in the final period but they failed to take full advantage of the fact the St. Brendan’s were in foul trouble from early in the quarter as Ballina failed to convert a number of free throws. On the other hand, the Tralee side tormented the visitors with three more 3-pointers and they regained the lead with three minutes left in the game. From there to the final buzzer, it was nail biting stuff but, unfortunately for Ballina, they were on the wrong side of a close finish on this occasion having inflicted a late late defeat on Tolka Rovers in Ballina two weeks earlier.
Loftus Recycling: Paul Barrett (13 ), Dara McGarrity (12 ), Peter Papik (10 ), Anthony MacHale (2 ), Liam McHale (15 ). Willie Popplewell (6 ), Taofic Mustapha (6 ), Blaise Devaney (4 ), Barry Powell.
St. Brendan’s : Cathal O’Sullivan, Daniel Molymeaux, Liam Culloty (9 ), Fergal O’Sullivan (14 ), Saulius Marcinkevicius (8 ), Ricardo Leonard, Conor Donoaghy, Andrew Fitzgerald.
Next Weekend: On Saturday next,Loftus Recycling host Subway Portlaoise in the 2nd Round of the Men’s Senior Cup with tip-off in Ballina Sports and Leisure Centre at the earlier time of 5.30pm to allow fans to watch the international soccer match later in the evening.
