An outstanding team performance, led by Mike Callaghan’s 35 points & 15 rebounds, saw SSE Renewables Moycullen secure the Premier League win against rivals Templegoue in front of a packed house in the Kingfisher on Saturday evening. In their last few games Moycullen had improved their scoring return but the had struggled to contain opponents from finding their mark, They knew that defense was going to be key if they were to come out on top against their Dublin opponents and so it proved. While the first half was free scoring from both teams, the 2nd half defensive effort from SSE Renewables Moycullen was excellent; limiting Templegoue to 23 points in total laying the foundation to a well deserved win.
A solid start was vital to help settle the home team and with Tomas Gilson once again doing a nice job on the guard spot they got Callaghan some good looks that he converted to keep pace with the visitors from Dublin who started red hot.
While Templeogue are known for their guard play, it was inside that they found the most joy with some easy scores due to the pressure that the Moycullen guards were exerting and they had edged into a 1 point lead by end of the quarter.
A great start to the 2nd quarter with Stephen O’Brien knocking down back-to-back 3’s gave SSE Renewables an early lead to start the quarter and it was one that they were never to relinquish. Dylan Cunningham did an excellent job in limiting the visitors American to any type of decent look at the basket and with Callaghan continuing to torment his opponents; the lead was up to 6 point at the half.
This was a situation that Moycullen had found themselves in the last 3 home games and they were determined to not fall into the same trap of trying to simply out score their opponents in the 2nd half. If the win was to be secured, it was through defense that it would come. An excellent 3rd quarter from the team had them build up the lead to 17 points by the close of the quarter, with some great fast break scores from Paul O’Brien and solid inside play from Callaghan to the fore.
The start of the fourth quarter and SSE Renewables started to tighten up a little but crucially their defense also tightened up and while they struggled to find scores, they also kept their opponents in check. An inspired Darragh Mulkerrins once again showed the beauty of youthful exuberance and he connected on two excellent scores when Templegoue had hit some big 3’s to give them a glimmer of hope. With Ronan O’Sullivan finishing some aggressive inside moves, Moycullen were able to enjoy the last few minutes of the game in front of another great home crowd. While there were some excellent performances from Callaghan, Mulkerrins & Eoghan Maxwell this was a real team effort and a well deserved win for the team
SSE Renewables are on the road this weekend coming, when they play recent beaten cup finalists Dublin Inter on Saturday. They will be hoping that they can reverse the result from the last time these teams met in November; it went down to the wire with the Dublin team edging it out at the end.
Mike Callaghan 35, Paul O’Brien 11, Stephen O’Brien 10, Dylan Cunningham 9, Darragh Mulkerrins 7, Ronan O’Sullivan 7, Eoghan Maxwell 4, Tomas Gilson 2, Gerald Lyons, Ian Burke, Nollaig Cunningham.
Categories: Men's Superleague, News
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