Neptune roar to dramatic derby victory over Ballincollig
Sean McCarthy reacts to a comeback score for Energywise Ireland Neptune against Ballincollig in the final minutes in the Domino’s Men’s Superleague against Energywise Ireland Neptune at MTU Arena. Picture: Larry Cummins
A monstrous buzzer-beating three-pointer from Jalen Hodge secured Energywise Ireland Neptune’s first win of the season in the Domino’s Men’s Super League over the champions Ballincollig at the MTU Arena on Saturday.
In a thrilling game that could have gone either way, the Blackpool side showed great courage in the closing seconds. In a dramatic finale, Sean McCarthy hit a three to nudge the visitors up by two points, Adrian O'Sullivan responded to give Collig the lead and then Hodge's dagger decided it.
Sam Smith showed his power inside when finishing with precision following a deft move to the hoop that was followed by a dagger outside the arc by Roy Downey. In the opening exchanges, Ballincollig looked all at sea in defence with Neptune finding the key openings in the offence court but Alex Bellver got them up and running with a lay-up in the third minute.
Former Ballincollig player McCarthy is having a very good season to date for Neptune and a couple of baskets made it 12-4 in the fourth minute. Ballincollig were struggling to score and when Smith produced a jammer two minutes later, Neptune had surged into an 11-point lead.
The tempo of the game increased as Ballincollig rallied with four unanswered baskets, leaving it 27-23 heading into the second period.
McCarthy continued his good form by stretching Neptune’s lead to seven.
There is little doubt Ballincollig haven’t the same scoring power as last season after the departure of their two All-Star Americans, though they did recruit AJ Williams this week to try and plug the gap.
In Dylan Corkery, they have a warrior who produced four unanswered baskets that reduced the deficit to the minimum 40-39 with 2.59 remaining in the second quarter.
After trailing the entire half, Ballincollig took the lead with 1.30 left on the clock following an Adrian O’Sullivan floater. Player-coach Ciaran O’Sullivan hit a three-pointer on the buzzer to give them a 47-44 interval lead, despite their sluggish start.
Kendall Taylor, who had a low-key first half, hit consecutive baskets on the restart to the delight of the Neptune fans.
Bellver has proved to be a quality signing for Ballincollig and the Spanish Bosman hit consecutive shots outside the arc that helped maintain a four-point lead in the 24th minute.
Smith continued to battle hard on the boards as his team were struggling with their outside shooting.
A brace of Eli Lenihan free throws tied the game but Adrian O’Sullivan got his team up and running with a telling move and finish to the hoop.
Credit to Neptune, they kept battling and with a minute remaining in the third quarter, a superb McCarthy basket edged them into a three-point lead, followed by a pair of McCarthy free throws.
Hodge had Neptune up by six heading the fourth quarter but this game was still on a knife-edge.
A superb Hodge three gave Neptune the perfect start as the game was threatening to run away from Ballincollig.
In fairness, the champions battled back and when Corkery produced a superb steal and basket the lead was down to two points, 77-75, with six minutes remaining.
Coming down the stretch, both sides went for the jugular. Spanish ace Bellver kept them in the hunt as he was truly outstanding at both ends of the floor and we were level at 85 points each with 1.26 remaining.
A McCarthy three-pointer gave Neptune a one- point lead with 37 seconds remaining but Adrian O’Sullivan responded with a stunning move that edged Ballincollig ahead 91-90 with 7.2 seconds left on the clock.
Following a Neptune time-out and possession, it was left to the shooting skills of Hodge to decide this intriguing game.
AJ Williams 20, A O’Sullivan 17, A Bellver 13, D Corkery 12.
S Smith 25, S McCarthy 24, J Hodge 15, K Taylor 14.
A O’Sullivan, D O’Herlihy, R O’Flynn, C O’Sullivan, C Blount, A Bellver, B Dounala, D Corkery, I Momodo, K Cairns, AJ Williams.
J Hodge, S McCarthy, E Lenihan, J Scannell, R Downey, A Heaphy, N Sabata, K Taylor, S Smith, N Power, E Nelson, P Osagie.
Leanne Ahern (Limerick), Catriona Whyte (Dublin), Alex Tiernan (Dublin).
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