UCC Demons outscore Templeogue 18-2 in closing stages to survive major Super League scare
UCC Demons' Patrick Robinson scores despite the efforts of Templeogue's Jake Mullins. Picture: David Keane.
A Houdini act from UCC Demons in the closing five minutes ensured they saw off Templeogue in a bizarre and exciting Men’s Super League clash at the GCU Arena on Saturday.
Demons trailed 89-80 with five minutes remaining but somehow responded to the wake-up call and outscored the Dubliners 18-2 to gain what could be a valuable win in their drive for the top spot.
Although Patrick Robinson led their scoring with 26 points it was the contributions of Irish players Blake Murphy, Daryl Cuff and the Hannigan twins James and Scott that got Demons over the line.
Elijah Tillman only took 12 seconds to nail a fade-away jumper, but Templeogue responded with a Samuel Henderson three.
The play from both sides was fast and furious but with Demons in a zone defence the Dublin side led 8-6 in the third minute. Demons defence was atrocious that saw Templeogue punish them at will. Trailing 18-14 in the sixth minute coach Danny O’Mahony called a time-out to steady the ship.
It must be said the scoring of Robinson was keeping Demons within striking distance but his defence was poor at times.
Scott Hannigan was a major plus for Demons off the bench but the Templeogue American duo Henderson and Jacolbey Owens were murdering Demons and deservedly commanded a 31-28 lead entering the second quarter.
On the restart Demons Daryl Cuff nailed a three-pointer but with the defence still underperforming Templeogue looked like staying the distance. In a three-minute spell Templeogue basically ran Demons ragged and deservedly stretched their lead to 12 points by the 16th minute.
Another noticeable aspect was the absence of Kyle Hosford through illness as they looked leaderless and with their defence a major worry the basement side had put 51 points on them in 16 minutes. It was hard to understand how Demons could play so poorly in the opening 20 minutes as Templeogue are fighting for survival.
Leading 54-44 with 48 seconds remaining to the interval Templeogue called a time-out but it was Demons who had the final say with a Robinson lay-up that saw the lead reduced to eight points 54-46.
Templeogue made 15 of 17 attempts inside the arc giving them an 88% average and 100% from outside the arc making 7/7.
Toby Christensen got Demons off to a good start in the second half but an unchallenged lay-up was the immediate Templeogue response. It looked as if Demons had increased their intensity in defence but they still trailed by eight points 61-53 in the 24th minute.
The lead was down to the minimum when Blake Murphy scored a beautiful back door lay-up and Tillman tied the game with 2.53 remaining in this period.
In the remaining minutes, Demons got their noses in front and with Robinson the go-to man it helped the home team command a two-point lead entering the fourth quarter 71-69.
Yet Demons looked in trouble when Kyle Cunningham nailed a three with five minutes remaining as Templeogue surged into a nine-point lead.
The response coming down the stretch was heroic as a three-pointer each from Murphy and Cuff set the tone as the brave Templeogue fire display was extinguished at the death.
P Robinson 26, E Tillman 17, T Christensen 14, S Hannigan 10, J Hannigan 9.
S Henderson 36, J Owens 24, M Tsukhanonvski 10.
S Hannigan, B Murphy, T Christensen, P Robinson, J Hannigan, D Lehane, E Spudis, K Hosford, C Looney, D Cuff, E Tillman.
J Owens, C McGrail, J Mullins, D Cassidy, K Cunningham, M Tsykhanovski, A Tighe, D Murray, SJ Henderson, J Murphy, J Fazande.
M Landos (Dublin), L Aherne (Limerick), S O’Shaughnessy (Tipperary).
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