University of Galway Maree 87 

UCC Demons 61 

A fourth quarter collapse by UCC Demons paved the way for University of Galway Maree to win the Southern conference in a competitive Men’s Super League clash at Calasanctus College on Saturday.

The Galway side showed great resilience coming down the stretch to outscore Demons 29-9 having trailed by four points entering the crucial period.

It certainly was a blow to Demons who were on a 10 game winning run but in the words of coach Danny O’Mahony it’s not the end the world for his side.

O’Mahony said: “Of course I am disappointed but look maybe we needed a reality check as did okay for three quarters but look well done to Maree they are a very good side.” 

Demons will now host Killester in the Super League quarter final play off at the Mardyke Arena next weekend and coach O’Mahony believes his side have some work to do.

O’Mahony added: “When you are playing any side in a one off game who have nothing to lose they can pose you problems as Killester have some good experienced players and a new American signing in their squad.” 

In the opening quarter Maree dominated proceedings in the early exchanges but Demons gradually got to grips to tie the game in the fifth minute.

Maree finished strongly and with Rodrigo Gomez having a superb game he helped his side command a seven point lead entering the second quarter.

The trend of the game didn’t change on the restart with Maree staying in control but Demons produced a good finish before the break and a Kyle Hosford dagger outside the paint with 3.16 remaining tied the game at 36 points each.

The westerners finished the game in style with a superb Zvonimir Cutuk basket that edged them into a 43-41 interval lead.

Demons showed their mettle in the third quarter and with Hosford and Randolph leading by example they took a 62-58 lead into the final quarter.

To be fair Maree showed their class coming down the stretch and with Gomez giving a man of the match performance they blew Demons out with relative ease.

Back to the drawing board for coach Danny O’Mahony and his squad but the adage “one swallow never made a summer” springs to mind before they take on Killester on Sunday.

Scorers for University of Galway: R Gomez 23, J Haines22, Z Cutuk 16, J Burke 11.

UCC Demons: M J Randolph 24, K Hosford 21, K Nwagboso 10, T Fam 8.

University of Galway Maree: C Finn, J Burke, S Commins, E Rockall, Z Light, M Sweeney, G Fernane, R Gomez, J Haines, M Thiam, Z Cutuk, P Freeman.

UCC Demons: J Hannigan, S Carney, M J Randolph, K Hosford, S Hannigan, D Lehane, T Fam, V Bykov, C Cuff, C Looney, K Nwagboso, S Manojovic, M McCarthy.

Referees: