Limerick Sport Eagles soar to thrilling Men's Division 1 National Cup final success

LIMERICK Sport Eagles defeated Drogheda Wolves 83-67 to lift the Domino’s Men's Division 1 National Cup at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin on Sunday afternoon.

Ryan Leonard earned MVP for the Cup champions following his 24-point performance.

Drogheda Wolves made a good start to the game, showing strength in the paint with Chima Obikwelu getting a tough putback score to make it 4-2 to Drogheda four minutes into the game.

Eagles rallied well and managed to go on a run, which was capped off with a Darragh Horkan three to give them a 15-8 lead midway through the opening quarter.

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Francisco Dias nailed a very difficult contested three to cut Eagles lead to five points, 18-13, the momentum started to shift as Wolves went on a 5-0 run through scores from Jackson and Franiciszek Chmielecki to make it a one-score game, 20-18, with just under a minute to go in the first.

In the opening moments of the second quarter, Dimitrios Theocharis drilled a three in front of the Wolves bench to bring them within a point, trailing 24-23. Leonard and Alex Carlisle added points for Eagles to extend the lead to eight points at 35-27 with six minutes left in the quarter.

Momentum started to shift in favour of Drogheda Wolves, as Vernon Jackson’s basket and free throw cut the deficit to five points, 35-30. Dias then came up with a huge block which led to a fast-break score for Dimitrios Theocharis. He then hit a three himself to tie up the game at 35-35 halfway through the period.

Limerick Sport Eagles managed to nudge themselves back in front before the break, with Carlisle and Tobias Christensen hitting free-throws in the final two minutes, to hand Niall McDermott’s side a 47-44 lead.

Drogheda Wolves again made a strong start to the quarter, Chmielecki getting a handful of early baskets, including a big score through contact at the rim to keep Eagles in touching distance hallway through the quarter at 54-50.

Eagles came roaring back with two Leonard three’s and a Carlisle and-one inside the final two minutes to send Eagles into the final quarter ahead by ten points, 66-56.

Wolves reduced Eagles lead to six points following two Theocharis scores in the opening 30 seconds of the fourth to make it 66-60. Eagles then really started to apply pressure, going on a 13-0 run, with Darragh Horkan getting five of those points, including a big three with four minutes to go, to cap off the run and push Eagles to 79-60.

Wolves managed to reduce the lead down to 15 points at 79-64, but that was as close as they got, with the Eagles holding out and winning the contest by 16.

Quarter Scores: Q1: 24-18, Q2: 23-26, Q3: 19-12, Q4: 17-11

Game Scores: Q1: 24-18, Q2: 47-44, Q3: 66-56, Q4: 83-67

Limerick Sport Eagles: Ronan Cregan (0), Jake Moore (0), Danny Shahab (0), Kirill Yakovlev (0), Ryan Leonard (24), Fred Klimas (2), Colm Hackett (2), Darragh Horkan (16), Ajay Ryan Walsh (0), Sean Ryan (3), Alex Carlisle (21), Toby Christensen (15).

Drogheda Wolves: Cian Crowley (2), Dimitrios Theocharis (18), Robert Sullivan (0), David Sedeno (0), Chima Obikwelu (8), Vernon Deshaun Jackson (16), Thibaut Njuguna (0), David Oputa (4), Lukas Saltmeris (0), Franiciszek Chmielecki (10), Simon Horkan (0), Francisco Antonio Cruz Dias (9).