Marian make Neptune work for win
Neptune 76(39) Hibernian UCD Marian 70(35)
Ricardo Leonard 21 Mike Trimmer 20
Rasuel McKune 16 Neville Charles 18
Jon D’Orlando 15 Huey Futch 14Hibernian UCD Marian gave Neptune a tough time of it in the opening game of the mens ESB National Championships at the National Basketball Arena, running the league champions close before finally falling 76-70.
Marian were fired up for the encounter and ran up a 10-0 lead in the first two minutes off the quarter with Neville Charles the dominant force for the Dublin side. Neptune were shell shocked and struggled to settle into the game and there was three minutes gone before Rasuel McKune finally got them off the blocks with 1 from 2 free throws.
Neptune then began to get their act together and Leonard and McKune caused Marian some problems inside, making it tough for them to get their shots up. Neville Charles beat the Ric and Rasuel double act with a lovely dummy drive and hook shot to put Marian ahead 15-5 with just under five minutes remaining in the half.
Huey Futch made it 20-13 with 15 seconds left before Leonard made it a five point game with 2 free shots with just 4 seconds left, the quarter ending 20-15 to Marian.
Rasuel McKune picked up his game in the second quarter and he levelled the sides for the first time at 25 apiece with 6 minutes remaining in the half before Stephen McCarthy put Neptune in front for the first time seconds later.
The action went basket for basket before a technical call on Jon D’Orlando allowed Glover to put Marian ahead 30-29 with 3.40 in the half. Glover gave Marian another lead with a huge three-pointer with just under 2 minutes to play, but three unanswered baskets from Neptune gave them a 4pt lead, 39-35 at half time.Gerry Fitzpatrick’s half time talk saw an fired up Neptune team take to the court in the second half and a Stephen McCarthy three-pointer put them 44-35 ahead with just under 2 minutes played. Neptune continued to dominate the game and enjoyed an 11pt lead, 50-39 with 6 minutes remaining in the quarter.
Neville Charles and Pat Glover worked hard for Marian and they brought back the deficit to 6pts with 2 minutes left to play, but Neptune extended their lead through McCarthy in the final minute to lead 62-53 going into the final quarter.
Trimmer made it a three point game 66-63 with five minutes to go with a strong inside drive. Neville Charles fustrated McKune with a brilliant block, McCarthy grabbed the rebound, but Charles stole it off him and scored at the other end to make it a 1pt game, 66-65 with just under four minutes left to play.
Rasuel McKune proved too hot for Marian to handle and he went to the line twice in 30 seconds scoring 2 from 4 to make it 68-65 to Neptune.Huey Futch fouled big Ricardo Leonard to gift him a three point play in the fianl 1.35 of the game and a huge three-pointer from Jon D’Orlando put the game beyond Marian at 74-68 with 40 seconds remaining. Trimmer got one back for Marian before McKune sealed the win for the league champions at 76-70.
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