Ballincollig 94 (51)
Maigh Cuilinn 73 (34)
Last year’s Superleague champions Ballincollig proved too strong for Maigh Cuilinn in Cork last weekend as the men from the rebel county never relinquished an early lead en route to a dominating 94 to 73 win.
Maigh Cuilinn will have travelled south knowing that everything probably needed to fall right for them to get their first away victory of the season. Their shooting touch did not make the trip however and a dismal 35 percent from 2 point range and just 29 percent gave them little to no chance of victory.
Ballincolling on the other hand used their greater size and strength to devastating effect, converting a staggering 69 percent of their 2 point attempts. The ability to get easier scores, close to the ring was the one-line story of this game as every time Maigh Cuilinn looked to make a run, Ballincollig could answer with a solid offence and easy basket.
In the early going, the Ballincollig trio of Nikola Rosa, Jordan Campbell and Shawndale Jones Jr had their way with the usually tough Maigh Cuilinn defence. The combined total of that trio, 17 points, by itself outscored Maigh Cuilinn who could manage just ten.
The second quarter was friendlier to Maigh Cuilinn on the attacking end, Aitor Perez in particular finding some space on the perimeter and netting a few fine long range efforts. The Galway outfit did not manage to slow down the Ballincollig attack however and went in at the half time break down 51 to 34.
Ballincollig were worthy winners of the Superleague last year and they showed their class again last weekend when seeing out a win against what was in fairness a valiant Maigh Cuilinn second half effort.
Adrian O’Sullivan was commanding at the point guard spot with his brother Ciaran a calming influence throughout. Maigh Cuilinn had strong showings from Grant Olsson, Antonio Calvente and Patrick Lyons who led by example and did all in their powers to inspire a comeback but Maigh Cuilinn never really threatened to overturn the lead Ballincollig had built up.
A fiery third quarter did eventually flow into a mild finish to the fourth and final quarter with the home side keeping pace with the Maigh Cuilinn scoring throughout and maintaining their advantage.
By the final buzzer, there was little Maigh Cuilinn could argue with in terms of the end scoreline of 94 to 73. They will hope that some of their sharpshooters find better form for next weekend’s National Cup first round encounter versus University of Ulster in Leitir Móir.
Maigh Cuilinn Scorers: Grant Olsson (15), Antonio Molina (10), Patrick Lyons (10), Aitor Perez (10), Ivan Basic (9), James Connaire (9), Josiah Laracey (6), Kyle Cunningham (4), Donagh McDonagh, Joseph Tummon, Dylan Cunningham