Maree men upset the odds by flooring Superleague leaders

THE Maree men’s Superleague side pulled off the shock of the season on Saturday when toppling league leaders Belfast Star 80-74 away from home to climb away from the danger zone at the foot of the table.

It capped a wonderful double for the club, as the Women’s Division 1 side eased into the semi-finals of the Division 1 Cup with a 78-48 win away to Limerick Celtics.

It was not such good news for Galway’s three other national league sides, however: Moycullen remain rooted to the foot of the Superleague table following a 108-79 defeat away to Templeogue; Titans are bottom of the Men’s Division 1 Northern Conference following a 102-98 overtime defeat to LYIT; while NUIG Mystics bowed out of the Women’s Superleague Cup with a 83-68 defeat to Fr Mathews.

Belfast Star 74

Maree 80

Mike Lynch’s side ended the seven-game winning run of the Ulster side on Saturday as a dominant display from Paul Freeman helped Maree to a third win of the season.

A shock was on the cards early, with Maree leading 19-13 at the end of the first quarter, and a stunning second quarter display saw the Galway side lead 45-26 at half-time.

The shell-shocked league leaders tried to respond in the third quarter – a period which has been Maree’s Achilles heel this season – but while they did eat into the visitors’ lead, Maree still held a seven point advantage (60-53) heading into the final quarter.

Star finally got their noses in front in the fourth quarter, but Maree levelled it at 71-apiece with two minutes remaining, and with Paul Freeman dominating under the boards – he finished the game with 16 rebounds – and Sean Sellers and Niels Bunschoten both breaking the 20-point mark in the game, Maree showed great character to eke out the win.

They have a chance to put further distance between themselves and the foot of the table this weekend when they host Killorglin of Kerry, who they moved above in the table with Saturday’s win, in Calasanctius College in Oranmore (7pm) on Saturday.

Maree: S Sellers (26), P Freeman (18), E Rockall (4), J Burke (5), N Bunschoten (21), S Commins (4), C Crowley (2).

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and  county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.