UCC Demons push on in fourth quarter for crucial win over Sligo All Stars
Tala Fam Thiam attacks the lane for UCC Demons against Sligo All Stars. Picture: Chani Anderson
UCC Demons had to produce their best basketball of the season in the fourth quarter before disposing of Sligo All Stars in the Domino’ Men’s Super League at the GCU Arena on Sunday.
Make no mistake, this win contained sheer guts and spirit with so much at stake in their fight to stave off relegation. Plenty of heroes for the hosts, but in Tala Fam who had 22 points, they had a warrior who showed incredible skills when his team needed inspiration.
Demons were quickest out of the blocks but new signing Jordan Washington missed two easy tips in their first possession before RJ Rock edged the visitors ahead following a turnover. Fam was the one Demons player to step to the plate in the early exchanges but with both sides playing zone defence Sligo were getting clear looks and nailing baskets.
In the fourth minute, Sligo led 13-11 before Demons got a run of three unanswered baskets to edge into a five-point lead midway through the quarter. On each occasion, Demons looked to be taking control, turnovers came back to haunt them as Sligo duly punished them.
Indeed, Demons began using different rotations and the game was finely balanced with 2.21 remaining in the quarter with the home side commanding a 29-25 lead. After a high-scoring quarter with little or no defence being played the sides were tied at 34 points each.
The turnovers continued for Demons and with some of the fifty-fifty calls going against them, they were fortunate to command a four-point lead in the 14th minute. The new American signings Fields and Washington were doing okay without making a huge impression as their defence continued to be suspect.
Another minus for Demons is they looked to waiting for something to happen with the visitors continuing to stay the pace. In the closing minutes before half-time, it was a comedy of errors, but Demons did manage to put together a couple of baskets that gave them a 59-53 lead at the interval.
Looking at the half-time stats, Demons were 19/29 (66%) inside the paint and 4/15 outside the arc (27%).
On the restart Demons were sloppy missing easy tips but three minutes into quarter, they still commanded an eight-point lead.
There is little doubt there was huge tension on and off court for Demons and a James Hannigan three-pointer midway through the quarter gave the home side a four-point lead: 64-60.
Fields was continuing to shoot air balls, but Demons were lucky that Fam was playing out of his skin on the boards. The westerners kept hanging in and a buzzer-beating three from Ja’zere Noel brought the minimum between the sides entering the fourth quarter: 75-74.
The home side got into foul trouble early in this period with both Americans replaced with four fouls each. Demons dug deep and with their defence now at full throttle, they managed to move into a nine-point lead with 6.44 remaining.
Live Kivuvu came off the bench and did well enough for the home side and with Dave Lehane having his best game of the season in defence, they managed to extend their lead to 16 points midway the quarter.
Demons showed true character coming down the stretch and their will to win got them over the line after an entertaining game.
T Fam 22, J Washington 20, T Fields 14, D Lehane 13, J Hannigan 12.
R J Rock 28, C Williams 16, O Agu 14.
S Hannigan, B Horgan, J Beckom, L Sutton, K Hosford, J Hannigan, D Lehane, T Fam Thiam, D Cuff, C Looney, L Kivuvu, J DT Fields, J Washington.
CM Williams, D O’Meara, M Chambers, J Noel, E Faapito, J Carroll, A Lockhart, O Toluogunkoya, RJ Rock, O Agu, L McLoughlin.
Jamie Dooley (Portlaoise), Catriona White (Dublin), Kevin Robinson (Dublin).
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