UCC Demons 82, Dublin Inter 64: UCC Demons captain Shane Coughlan claimed a record tying fifth Men's National Cup title last night when he led his side to an 82-64 win over Dublin Inter in the National Basketball Arena.
He joins the company of the great Damien Sealy (Notre Dame and Killester) who is the only other player to have done so.
In truth, the game played out much like the pundits had predicted when the David of Inter eventually wilted at the scoring power of the Goliath, UCC Demons. It marks the first league or cup title for Demons since 2009, a veritable drought for a club with their history.
Despite having major underdog status, Inter started the game much the more confident team. When Giedrius Trakauskas hit a three pointer after four minutes, it gave Inter a four-point lead.
Once Demons did settle, the reasons for their favourites’ tag were evident. Swinging the ball across the Inter defence, their multitude of offensive threats stretched the Inter defence to breaking point and had the Cork outfit up 23 to 19.
Leading the way for the Leesiders was American Lehmon Colbert, whose 11 first quarter points were a major reason for his side’s advantage.
Perhaps surprisingly, Demons’ full court pressure was not the disruptive force many would have thought and Inter’s capability to handle it did keep them in touch, trailing by just nine points at the half.
While Inter would have been happy to be trailing by single digits, they must have been acutely aware that the high scoring of 49-40 after just two quarters would not have been their desired game-plan.
In a scoring bonanza, Demons were always going to be the winners and when the game followed a similar pattern to start the third, the Demons’ lead swelled to 14, Ciaran O’Sullivan in particular finding his shooting touch.
What turned out to be the proverbial nail in the coffin was a corner three from Demons’ Kyle Hosford two minutes later and directly after an Inter time-out. It left a visibly dejected Inter sideline that now found themselves trailing by 20 and out of ideas.
With a raucous Demons following making up a large proportion of the sold out National Basketball Arena crowd, there was only going to be one winner from that point onwards as a party atmosphere began to take over in the stands.
A spirited Inter fourth quarter did seem them drag the contest back to a fourteen point game but five straight points for veteran Niall O’Reilly quickly reasserted Demons’ dominance.
In the end the final score of 82-64 was an all-around fair reflection of the gap between the teams.
