Ballincollig basketballers win fourth Super League game on the bounce against Eanna
Josh Steel, Ballincollig, takes on Mikah Blackwell, Eanna. Picture: Jim Coughlan.
Ballincollig won their fourth Domino’s Men’s Super League on the bounce when they defeated Griffin College Eanna at MTU last Saturday.
Both these sides will meet again next weekend when they clash in the same venue in the first round of the Domino’s Men’s Super League National Cup.
The Village held a nine-point lead at the half with good contributions from Adrian O’Sullivan, English native Josh Steel and American Latrell Jossell. However, Cork's Sean Jenkins proved to have a hot hand for Eanna with five efforts beyond the arc to keep his side in the game.
The home side just did enough in the second half to win. However, it was spoiled by some over-fussy refereeing.
Eanna raced into a 3-0 lead with James Gormley hurting Ballincollig inside the paint and he drew two fouls from their American player Latavious Mitchell in the opening 30 seconds. The Village responded with a big three from Latrell Jossell and consecutive baskets by Adrian O’Sullivan to lead 15-7 after four minutes.
The Dubliners reduced the deficit 23-20 with a Jenkins three. Josh Steel matched that and a pull-up jumper by Jossell gave the Village a 32-25 lead at the end of the first period.
Ciaran O’Sullivan and Jenkins exchanged threes at the start of the second quarter and the hosts were up 40-33 after two minutes of this period. Keelan Ciarns then nailed a pair of efforts beyond the arc to make it 53-40 with 3.34 until half-time.
Jenkins and American Jalen McAfee-Marion kept Eanna in contention and a buzzer-beating three from Jenkins reduced the deficit, 57-48.
Mitchell made his presence felt inside the paint on his return to the lineup, after only playing a total of two minutes of the opening half because of foul trouble, with three early buckets.
Jenkins and Gormley kept Eanna alive with timely baskets, 69-61, midway through the period. Adrian O’Sullivan continued to hurt Eanna with his penetrating drives to the hoop and a late three from Steel put Ballincollig 85-74 ahead entering the final quarter.
Both sides' frustration with the officiating was very evident, especially Ballincollig, who were in serious foul trouble, with some inconsistent and very soft calls.
Jenkins continued to be the main man for Eanna with his slick passing and shooting. It was 88-86 after a big three by Croatian Stefan Decnica midway through the fourth.
Coming down the stretch, both sides traded baskets but Eanna’s failure to convert their foul shots in the closing minutes proved critical. Although the Village had two big turnovers in the final 18 seconds, they held on for a vital victory to bring their record to 4-2.
Adrian O’Sullivan, Joshua Steel, Latrell Jossell, Diego O’Herlihy, Alberto Rodriguez, Ciaran O’Sullivan, Ronan O’Sullivan, Colm Blount, Luke O’Sullivan, Dylan Corkery, Latavious Mitchell, Keelan Cairns.
Cathal O’Sullivan, Jalen McAfee-Marion, Dean Kiernan, Kristijan Andabaka, Stefan Desnica, Neil Lynch, Sean Jenkins, Mikah Blackwell, Adam Charles, James Gormley, Manou Christal.
Jamie Dooley ( Portlaoise), Jacek Halysko ( Portlaoise), Mariujz Landos ( Portlaoise).
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