UL EAGLES 70 DCU SAINTS 56

Daire Walsh

UL Eagles had the double act of Jason Killeen and Robert Taylor to thank in the National Basketball Arena last night, as they registered 40 points between them to secure a league and cup double over a determined DCU Saints in an entertaining decider.

Saints centre Martin Provizors started brightly with six points inside the opening three minutes, but UL soon brought parity after two-pointers from Killeen, Matt Hall and Taylor. The Cup champions did receive a set-back six minutes in when guard Scott Kinevane suffered a knee injury.

But the powerful Killeen was proving to be a thorn in the Dublin college’s side, as six-points meant that the sides were level (12-12) at the end of the first quarter.

Moving into the second period, DCU came out firing on all cylinders with a brace of two-pointers from Keith Anderson and Eoin Quill, and one point from a free shot by Michael Chubb.

Two points from Mike Trimmer and Quill would bring the DCU lead back to four, but the Eagles hit form with scores from Quigley (6) and Taylor (4) to briefly put their side back in the lead, before a Pat Glover two-pointer gave the Saints a slender lead (26-25) ahead of the second half.

The third quarter would prove to be the most explosive of all, two-pointers for DCU from Provizors (2) and Anderson were cancelled out by efforts from Killeen (2) and Hall.

It was at this point that UL started to cut loose with a five-point burst from the dynamic duo of Taylor and Killeen, but DCU responded quickly through Anderson and Glover. Hall and Trimmer swapped points, before an excellent score from Kevin Lacey levelled matters once more.

The Eagles would have the final say in the third quarter as a late six-point haul (including a Hall three-pointer) gave them a significant cushion with 10 minutes left.

And then nine points from Killeen in the final period, alongside six from Taylor, gave them 14 points to spare.

UL EAGLES — D O’Donovan, R Taylor, E Quigley, S Kinevane, N Campbell, R Lynch, A Dawson, M Hall, S King, B Reidy, A Holden, J Lynch, C O’Gallachoir, J Killeen

DCU SAINTS — K Anderson, C McGroggan, M Chubb, E Donnelly, J Guilmartin, J Donnelly, K Lacey, M Provizors, E Quill, M Trimmer, P Glover.

REFS — D Caballe, P Dempsey, M Nazimek.

Irish Independent