Battling Ballincollig slip past UCD Marian in National Cup

Ballincollig 71 UCD Marian 69 

A superb display in the fourth quarter by Adrian O’Sullivan ensured the holders Ballincollig survived a major scare in the Pat Duffy Men’s National Cup before they eventually saw off a resilient UCD Marian side at the MTU Arena on Saturday.

Not a game for the purist, with Americans AJ Williams (11) and Zachary Davis (4) struggling big time on the scoring front. It took the brilliance of their captain O’Sullivan to guide his team into the last eight with 20 points, including two free throws with the clock running down.

Dylan Corkery was quick into the mix for Ballincollig with a classy drive to the hoop that saw him finish with a lay-up that was followed by a brace of Alex Bellver free throws. Marian were playing zone defence while Ballincollig were on a full court press that seemed to be making life tough for their opponents.

The pace of the game in the opening four minutes was fast and furious and when Bellver nailed a three-pointer midway through the quarter, Ballincollig had increased their lead to eight points, 11-3, with UCD immediately calling a time-out.

On the restart, Tanner drained a long-range shot outside the arc and when his fellow American Isiah Taylor nailed an identical shot it was a two-point game.

Ballincollig were now making basic errors and when Taylor made an interception in the ninth minute UCD led for the first time 13-11, with the home side calling a much-needed time out.

They were struggling in the offensive court and their 13-point tally in the opening period saw them trail by five points, 18-13, entering the second quarter.

Two consecutive turnovers wasn’t the ideal beginning to the quarter and a Graham tip-in extended the visitors' lead. A basket and three-pointer from Adrian O’Sullivan reduced the UCD lead to the minimum in the 13th minute, however.

Up to midway through this period, the standard of basketball was woeful from both sides and Marian were commanding an eight-point lead, 27-19.

The home side couldn’t buy a basket and having only 21 points on the board with three minutes remaining to the interval summed up their performance in the opening half.

It got worse for Ballincollig with two minutes remaining when a Graham three-pointer extended the Students' lead to 13 points as they looked a side on the ropes.

Luckily for them, O’Sullivan was on hand to drain two free throws in the last seconds that helped reduce the deficit to 11, 38-27 at the break.

There is little doubt Ballincollig were worried as player-coach Ciaran O’Sullivan needed to get bigger numbers from his key players; 27 points in 20 minutes of basketball is simply nowhere near the standard at this level.

The hosts opened with four points from Adrian O’Sullivan as Ballincollig increased the pressure in defence as the lead was reduced to four points just two minutes into the quarter.

Luckily for UCD, Taylor got consecutive tips and then drained a three and their lead was back to 13 points.

The injection of scoring that Ballincollig needed came in the closing three minutes when consecutive Keelan Cairns three-pointers reduced the deficit to three points entering the fourth quarter.

Coming down the stretch, Ballincollig rallied and Adrian O’Sullivan leading the charge they were up 64-63 with 2.55 remaining on the clock.

When the going got tough, the tough got going and two late O’Sullivan free throws sealed the deal for the Village outfit.

Top scorers for Ballincollig: A O’Sullivan 20, A Bellver 17, AJ Williams 11, K Cairns 8.

UCD Marian: I Taylor 22, T Graham 19, L Kinsella 13.

BALLINCOLLIG: 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.

UCD MARIAN: S O’Flynn, I Taylor, T Maguire, E McNeil, J Connaire, R Byrne, S Fitzpatrick, T Graham, L Andrijauskas, D Theocharis, L Kinsella, C Tiernan.

Referees: Emma Perry (Dublin), Sean Butterley (Dublin), Stephen O’Shaughnessy (Drogheda).