Welton rekindles Lions’ play-off dreams
The victory left coach Tommy Hehir breathing long sighs of relief after the 78-73 loss to Tigers.
“We needed that win badly because we did not perform in Tralee on Saturday night,” Hehir admitted. “Our Irish fellows were very poor and we left that game behind us. But today it was totally different. The guys went out there and did what they had to do and right now, with Tralee and Killarney playing each other midweek and a big game for us against Demons on the horizon, our destiny is in our own hands. In fact we can now finish second in the conference and that would leave us sitting pretty for the play-offs.”
The departure of their recently-signed American, Quentin Moman, on Monday left them depleted but by Friday morning Hehir had a new signing, Brent Welton, whom he spotted at a camp last May, and the 6’3” American, from the University of Philadelphia, stepped up to the mark immediately in the back-to-back games, scoring 29 points against Tralee and 27 yesterday.
“He is a fine player, in obtrusive on the court but then stepping up to get the baskets. He is a very good defensive player, something I did not expect,” Hehir said.
Micheal Quirke and Tommy Eddie provided the platform for Tigers’ victory on Saturday night but in the end it was Luke Egan and Luke O’Hea who settled the issue from the free throw line in the closing minutes of the game.
Tigers led 38-27 at half time when Limerick’s Rob Lynch had already picked up his fourth foul, but the visitors rallied in the third quarter, hitting seven unanswered points to leave Tigers with just a three-point advantage going into the final quarter.
Limerick had a late chance to salvage the game but when they missed from the outside, Luke Egan grabbed the rebound, was fouled and netted both free throws.
Against UCD, Limerick led by seven points at the end of the first quarter and had increased their advantage to 47-28 at half time. They outscored the visitors 30-10 in the final quarter for a 95-71 victory.
DART Killester beat Merry Monk Ballina 91-76 on Saturday night but Ballina bounced back for a big 124-88 victory over Shamrock Rovers Hoops at the NBA yesterday.
Carna Transport Mercy overcame Vienna Woods Glanmire 73-64 to claim the Women’s SuperLeague regular season title at Greendale on Saturday night in an enthralling game in which there was seldom more than four points between the sides.
Mercy got off to a flying start, outscoring Glanmire 23-12, but Glanmire, led by Denise Walshe, fought back to trail by just five at half time, 36-31.
Two minutes into the last quarter the sides were level at 58-58 but big shots from Suzanne McGuire and Tracy Gahan pushed Mercy clear.
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