Neptune produce their best to defeat cup winners Ballincollig in Cork derby
Samuel John Henderson shifts the attack for Energywise Ireland Neptune as Ciaran O'Sullivan defends for Ballincollig in the Domino's Men's Super League clash at MTU on Saturday. Picture: Larry Cummins
Energywise Ireland Neptune secured a crucial win over National Cup champions Ballincollig in the Domino’s Men’s Super League before a packed attendance at the MTU Arena on Saturday.
Ballincollig went into the game without their star American Latavious Mitchell who had to return home for the funeral of his grandmother and his absence proved too much.
There were many solid performers for Neptune with Michael Hayes (28), Eoin Nelson (18) and Samuel Henderson (12) leading their scoring.
Adrian O’Sullivan got the cup champions up and running with a deft move to the hoop that was cancelled out by a similar basket from Samuel Henderson. Latrell Jossell, who shot six three-pointers in their cup win against Tralee Warriors, was well off range with his opening two shots outside the paint.
Eoin Nelson was posing Ballincollig problems at the post as the Blackpool outfit edged into a 9-4 lead before Jossell eventually nailed a three-pointer. One noticeable aspect about Ballincollig's display was their poor shooting options in the opening five minutes as Neptune continued to command a three-point lead in the seventh minute.
The teams traded baskets, but Neptune had a two-point cushion, 18-16, entering the second quarter.
Neptune American Mike Hayes began with a basket and bonus as the large attendance were still waiting for this game to ignite. Consecutive three-pointers from Ballincollig’s Adrian O’Sullivan and Dylan Corkery and suddenly the game was tied at 25 points each in the 13th minute.
Midway through the quarter Neptune led by five points, 32-27, as Ballincollig struggled with the physical presence of Mitchell.
Eli Lenihan produced two stunning moves that yielded five points for Neptune and suddenly it was an eight-point game. Despite Jossell nailing his second three-pointer Neptune responded with Nelson draining consecutive baskets that surged the visitors into a nine-point lead.
Ballincollig responded and two baskets from Josh Steel reduced the deficit to five points at the break: 43-38.
Looking at the half-time stats Ballincollig made 11 out of their 23 attempts inside the paint (48%) and outside the arc, they only made 4/20, a paltry 20% average. Neptune would be happy with their 16/26 (62%) inside the paint but their shooting outside the arc was 1/10 (10%).
Keelan Cairns started the third quarter with a huge three-pointer but Neptune responded with three unanswered baskets as the home defence looked all at sea. The tempo of the game increased with both teams shooting the ball better and four minutes into this period Neptune led 51-48.
The game was still very much in the balance with both sides suddenly resorting to silly plays and turnovers.
The reintroduction of Cian Heaphy immediately saw him drive to the hoop and finish in style. And when Henderson made two free throws Neptune raced into an eight-point lead again.
Nelson increased this to 10 before Jossell responded with a three-pointer but on each occasion Ballincollig threatened a revival, Neptune responded and were up 63-54 entering the fourth quarter.
Cian Heaphy nailed a neat jumper on the restart, followed by a Henderson basket as Neptune were now in full flow. Coming down the stretch, Neptune scored baskets for fun as Ballincollig never looked likely to grind out a win with the Blackpool side always in control.
A crucial win for Neptune in their bid to keep their status in the top tier of Irish basketball.
L Jossell 18, K Cairns 14, J Steel 8.
M Hayes 28, E Nelson 18, S Henderson 12.
A O’Sullivan, J Steel, L Jossell, D O’Herlihy, A Rodriguez, C O’Sullivan, R O’Sullivan, C Blount, L O’Sullivan, D Corkery, K Cairns.
M Hayes, K O’Donoghue, S Henderson, C Heaphy, N Power, E Lenihan, A Heaphy, E Nelson, A Gregorio, D O’Rourke, N Sabata, J Scannell.
Jamie Dooley (Portlaoise), Emer Buckley (Kerry), Stephen O’Shaughnessy (Tipperary).
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