UCC Demons earn bragging rights with superb derby win over SuperLeague champions Ballincollig
James Hannigan of UCC Demons holds possession against Ballincollig. Picture: Noel Sweeney
UCC Demons produced a solid second-half display to defeat reigning champions Ballincollig in the Domino’s Men’s Super League at a packed MTU Arena on Sunday.
Not the greatest game we will witness this season but credit to Demons, they held their nerve when Ballincollig threatened a late revival.
In the opening exchanges Demons were mixing between man-to-man and zone defence but their inability to find Elijah Tillman at the post was evident in the early exchanges. Adrian O’Sullivan drained his second outside the arc and when Alex Bellver followed with an identical shot Ballincollig surged into a nine-point lead in the third minute.
The introduction of Keelan Cairns and Ciaran O’Sullivan immediately saw both players exchange passes with the latter getting in back door for a neat basket. To be fair Ballincollig, looked structured and with Cairns knocking down consecutive three-pointers they looked in control with 2.52 remaining in the first quarter and a 10-point cushion.
The closing minutes were scrappy with both teams shooting options bordering on the ridiculous but Ballincollig, without excelling, looked in control when commanding a 22-12 lead.
It was evident Demons were struggling at both ends of the floor as their tally of 12 points showed. On the restart, Price finished a Demons' fast break but Ballincollig continued to punish them with relative ease.
Ballincollig were set up nicely in defence but Demons inability to pass and shoot made life a little easier for them. As the quarter matured Tillman’s influence in the offence court was completely nullified but luckily Price came up with some important baskets.
Cairns certainly had a hot hand and when he drained his fourth three-pointer with two minutes remaining it gave his team a 10-point lead.
A brace of free throws from Bellver gave the home side a 43-35 lead with 8.2 seconds left on the clock with Demons calling a time out.
Despite Demons getting three opportunities to score, it wasn’t to be, and after a scrappy opening 20 minutes, Ballincollig still had an eight-point lead. Looking at the half-time stats Ballincollig hit 8/15 (53%) inside the arc and 7/20 outside, a 35% return. Demons registered 9/20 inside the arc and were 4/9 outside (44%).
On the restart Tillman at last got in for a back-door basket and bonus but Israel Momodo responded with a three-pointer.
The number of fouls called by the match officials on both sides was off the charts, but the clever play of Adrian O’Sullivan kept Ballincollig in control up to the 23rd minute.
Tillman suddenly began finding his best form was playing at the top and as bad as Demons were performing, they only trailed by four points, 52-48.
The scoring up to this was well below the scoring average at this level but there were so many stoppages it was hard for the teams to get into any sort of a rhythm.
Demons got it back to three points following a Tillman basket and bonus but Ciaran O’Sullivan responded with an easy tip. Tillman tied the game at 60 points each as the teams were level entering the final quarter.
On the restart Demons registered the opening seven points but Zachary Davis got Ballincollig up and running in the 32nd minute. However, with seven minutes remaining Demons had surged into a 10- point lead as Ballincollig needed a quick response.
Ballincollig did put in a late rally, but Demons held firm for a crucial win.
A O’Sullivan 16, A Bellver 14, K Cairns 14.
A Price 22, T Fam 16, J Hannigan 15, E Tillman 13.
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, Z Davis.
J Hanigan, J Beckom, B Horgan, D Cuff, J O’Leary, D Lehane, S Hannigan, L Sutton, E Tillman, T Fam, A Price, D Rocha.
Jamie Dooley (Portlaoise), Emer Buckley (Killarney), Marius Landos (Portlaoise).
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