Loss of Nihill knocks the stuffing out of Moycullen

OFFENSIVE inadequacies were once again the root of Moycullen's problems as they fell to a disappointing 79-45 defeat to Southern Conference leaders, UL Eagles, in the Nivea Men’s Basketball SuperLeague in Kingfisher, NUIG, on Saturday.

The momentum built from a battling performance away to Killester pre-Christmas was lost over the holiday period and, despite another solid performance at the defensive end, the team couldn't find a way to score consistently and were never in with a chance of winning the game.

They now face a long trip to Cork this weekend to face a Demons side buoyed by two wins over the New Year period.

On Sunday, the team began well, defending aggressively and forcing Limerick into forced shots and a couple of 24-second violations. However, they couldn't capitalise at the other end and half way through the quarter the score was more akin to a soccer scoreline, 2-2 off a pair of free throws each.

At that point, Matt Hall came off the bench for Limerick and immediately knocked down two threes off quick-ball reversal to open a seven point lead. A further Stephen King score was cancelled out by Mason Ambler and Limerick led 14-7 after the first.

The second quarter was more open as Limerick began to find the seams in the Moycullen defence while Moycullen produced their most fluid offensive of the game. Scores from the three Cunninghams and three inside baskets from Mason Ambler kept Moycullen in the hunt but yet another three from the same spot by Hall and a run of 10 consecutive points off free throws and second attempts from Cameron Mitchell saw Limerick edge further ahead at the half, 35-22.

More worryingly from Moycullen, leading scorer, Cian Nihill, who had just returned from an ankle injury, went down with a recurrence of the same problem after less than 5 minutes of court time.

Despite trailing by just 13 at the half, Nihill's injury knocked the stuffing out of the Moycullen team as he was seen as the answer to many of their scoring woes. They still upped their defensive effort again to begin the quarter and frustrated their Limerick rivals. However, a miserly return of a pair of baskets from James Loughnane and Dylan Cunningham and a buzzer beating 3-point prayer from Mike Dowd was the sum total of their offensive output from the quarter. When Cameron Mitchell crashed home a dunk off a missed shot, Limerick found their rhythm again and doubled the half time margin, stretching their lead to 55-29.

The last quarter was a formality and, with Eagles dropping their guard slightly at the defensive end, Moycullen matched them basket for basket for much of the quarter. For Moycullen, James O'Brien and Gerald Lyons got some valuable Superleague minutes under their belt with O'Brien getting to the foul line and knocking down a pair of free throws, and Mason Ambler battled to the end, with a trio of inside baskets. Limerick spread their scoring with Ciaran White and Hall contributing off the bench and Stephen King picking up 6 points to push his way into double figures.

The final scoreline of 79- 45 probably doesn't do justice to their defensive efforts but was a more than fair reflection of their offensive productivity.

The path to respectability at Superleague level is proving a difficult one to follow for the west of Ireland club. In fairness to them, playing without three players of the quality of Nihill, Garnett Griffin and Mindaugus Kurcenkovas is a handicap even the more established clubs would struggle to deal with and they will just have to hope that the injuries clear up as soon as possible.