Basketball League round-up with Griffith and Lions victories
Griffith College Templeogue head coach Mark Keenan cut a satisfied figure after seeing his side claim a hard-earned 85-82 victory over DBS Éanna in the Men’s Super League at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday.
In advance of the game, Keenan had suffered a blow with the news that forward DJ Mitchell – who was a recent recruit to the south Dublin club – had agreed a move to Dutch outfit Basketball Academie Limburg.
They were pushed all the way by their Ballyroan rivals in the Tallaght venue, but Templeogue ultimately did enough to make it two wins from two in the Super League.
“It was a little bit tough coming into this game with DJ moving on from us and leaving the country today. The guys put in an extra 20% each to make up for that. We were superb at the start, an unbelievable start.
Devlin Gilmore and Jason Killeen in action in the Men’s Super League at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday
“You know you can’t keep that going for a whole game,” Keenan acknowledged when speaking to Basketball Ireland’s social media channels.
“Éanna, fair play to them, crawled their way back in. When they took the lead we were on rocky ground, but fair play to the guys. They really dug deep.”
Having trailed by 13 points (26-13) at the end of the opening quarter, Darren McGovern’s Éanna turned the game on its head. Heading into the final-quarter, they had squeezed in front on a scoreline of 66-64.
This threw down the gauntlet to Templeogue, but the 2017 champions responded in fine style. In his role as international head coach, Keenan is ably-assisted by US native Lawrence ‘Puff’ Summers.
He is also a valued member of Templeogue’s senior playing squad and the point guard registered some vital scores off free throws to edge his team over the line in the end.
While the Templeogue women’s side were left idle in Division One this weekend – their next encounter is against LYIT Donegal at Nord Anglia International School next Saturday – it proved to be a good weekend for Dublin Lions in the men’s second tier.
Having lost out to Ulster University in the opening round last weekend, the Clondalkin-based side were eager to bounce back when they travelled out west to face Titans BC of Galway in Division One.
Finn Hughes and Liam Osinyuga had been the leading lights for the Lions in their first game of the new campaign. They were in clinical form once again at the Ballinfoile Centre as the visitors eventually recorded a 66-53 victory – Erin Bracken’s first as Lions head coach.
