NUIG Mystics bagged their first win of the 2017/18 season in thrilling fashion this evening with an 84-77 point win over IT Carlow Basketball in an overtime Cup clash in Galway.
The game – which was a preliminary round of the Hula Hoops Women’s National Cup – now sees Mystics advance to the quarter-final stages, where they will meet Portlaoise Panthers in the coming days.
This evening’s clash though certainly lived up to its billing. The two sides had previously met in the Super League in Carlow in a game that also went to overtime (which Carlow won), and it was the visitors who had the better of the opening exchanges, running into a 19-24 lead at the end of the first. Mystics kept their cool though and strong shooting from Aine McDonagh kept them in touch at the half, trailing by just four, 33-37.
A blistering second half followed, with nothing separating the sides throughout as Maeve Parahus for Carlow and Mystics’ Dayna Finn exchanged scores at either end. Mystics looked to have the edge going into the last, holding a narrow 55-52 point lead, but Carlow were not going down without a fight and by the final buzzer, the game was all square at 70 points apiece. The home team dug deep in over time, and brilliant leadership from Aine McDonagh – who scored 31 points overall – saw them home to a memorable first win of the year.
Speaking afterwards, a delighted Mike Murray admitted it was the perfect time to get their first win of the season: “Overtime again! It was a great game, the girls played well, there were some turnovers at the end which cost us and saw it go to overtime. We needed a win, as everybody’s been saying, we deserved a win and we deserved this one. We got the win at long last! I’m delighted!”
Elsewhere, there was Men’s Super League action in UCD as UCD Marian and Éanna went head to head in an extremely close battle. A huge first quarter from Éanna saw them storm into an 18-25 point lead, with Aidan Dunne and Tamron Manning hitting some big scores. UCD were only getting started though, and a huge second quarter saw them take a 44-39 point lead into the break, as Michael Darragh Macauley had to sit out the remainder of the quarter to get some attention for a head injury (he rejoined proceedings in the second half).
UCD continued to hold the reins of the game in the third, punishing Éanna under the boards, but a late run from Éanna in the fourth – under the watchful eye of Dubs GAA boss, Jim Gavin - saw it back to a two-point game and all eyes were on the clock. Huge late scores from Conor Meany and Barry Drumm put UCD out of touch just as the clock ran down, to see them win out 84-79 in the end.
Speaking afterwards, Macauley stated: “It’s a different level, I’ve been playing the last while, but not at this standard, it’s a tough standard, they’re athletes up here, but I really enjoyed it. “UCD are top of the table for a reason, they’re a really strong team and we couldn’t come to terms with their shooters. We showed a bit of heart, a bit of fight, came back and gave it a lash but they just pulled out in the end:”
