Christmas certainly came early for Maree this evening as they won out 91-79 against near neighbours Moycullen in the big Galway derby at NUIG this evening.
A huge fourth quarter display from the Oranmore-based side saw American, Corey Hammell, lead the charge, as Maree came from two points behind at the end of the third quarter to go on and win the game by 12 points.
A massive performance from Irish international Eoin Rockall saw him top score in the game with 26 points and Maree head coach, John Finn, was thrilled with his side’s performance.
“Corey made a huge difference for us tonight - he was outstanding on rebounds - and all of the lads played brilliant in the last quarter," he said.
"Mike Lynch came up with an adjustment on one of our plays going into the last and that made a huge difference, we got some great lay ups from it. This was a brilliant game to win as they’ve beaten us twice already this year, so it was great to get the win.
"We’ve really been improving, and this game has shown that we’ve improved a lot since the start of the year so we’re very happy.”
This evening’s win marked Maree’s fourth win of the season so far, having been promoted from the Men’s Division One this year. They previously overcame DCU Saints, Éanna and KUBS.
This was the last game of the National League before the Christmas break, with the Super League getting back underway next weekend, December 30th (fixtures below).
Basketball Ireland Result – December 23rd, 2017
Moycullen 79-91 Maree
Top scorers Moycullen: Brandon McGuire 25, James Loughnane 18, Dylan Cunningham 10
Top scorers Maree: Eoin Rockall 26, Corey Hammell 17, Kenneth Hansberry 17
Half time score: Moycullen 45-44 Maree
Basketball Ireland Fixtures: December 27th-30th
Wednesday, December 27th, 2017
Ireland U18 men v Luxembourg, Neptune Stadium, 18.00
Thursday, December 28th, 2017
Ireland U18 men v Luxembourg, Neptune Stadium, 15.30
Friday, December 29th, 2017
Ireland U18 men v Luxembourg, Neptune Stadium, 10.00
Saturday, 30th December 2017
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
UCC Demons v Moycullen, Mardyke Arena, 15:00;
Éanna v Belfast Star, Colaiste Éanna, 15:00;
KUBS BC v Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, Greendale, 17:00;
Hula Hoops Women’s National Cup quarter-final:
Pyrobel Killester v Ambassador UCC Glanmire, IWA Clontarf, 18.00
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
Scotts Lakers St. Paul’s Killarney v EL Sligo All Stars, Killarney Sports Centre, 15:00
