Ballina raise Bar with victory on glorious league return
Matthew McHale, Mark Cunningham and Myles Felletti were in great form for Team Bar Square Ballina on Saturday night as the home side beat Dublin Raiders 94-86 in the preliminary round of the Men's Division 1 National Cup. Picture: INPHO/NIck Elliott
The boys of Ballina announced themselves in style, as the return of National League basketball to Moyside could not have gone much better on Saturday night.
The eight points victory over Dublin Raiders was thoroughly deserved and at one stage during the final quarter, it looked as though the final result might be even more comfortable. Ballina Braves – or Team Bar Square Ballina as they are now officially known – led 88-72 before the excellent three-point shooting of the visitors tightened things, with Raiders finishing the match with fifteen scores from outside the arc compared to Ballina’s 10.
Of those combined 25 three-pointers, 18 were scored during a high quality, high octane first-half that ended with just a single point separating the teams, with Dublin Raiders holding a 56-55 advantage.
But a wonderful third quarter display by the home side was the undoing of Raiders as in a ten minute period either side of half-time, Ballina went from trailing by five points to leading by eleven.
New signings Joseph Owens (USA) and Miles Felletti (UK) were central to Ballina’s success, as they scored 52 points between them, but the performances of several of the local boys, Mark Cunningham and Ronan McGarrity specifically, were critical too. McGarrity rolled back the years and included within his 15 points haul was a trio of three-pointers, the first two dropping at what felt like vital times in the game.
This match was the first of three in a round-robin preliminary cup competition among Division 2 teams to decide upon two teams who will represent the division in the Division 1 President’s Cup proper. That will all be ran off in advance of Ballina’s first league match which is at home to Affinity Institute Cavan Eagles on Saturday, October 31.
Joseph Owens has arrived to Ballina off the back of an impressive NCAA Division 1 career with Chicago State University from where he graduated this year. The club secured his services after it looked as though Owens would play for Limerick Celtics in the Super League this season.
The 6’7’’ forward wasted no time in endearing himself to Ballina supporters when he slam-dunked the very opening basket of Saturday’s match and proceeded to score the team’s first nine points. He'd finish the night with 34 points. His first three-pointer was immediately replicated by Ballina’s 20-year-old captain Mark Cunningham, as Paul Barrett’s side led the visitors 12-9 before Neil Randolph and Raiders’ US import EJ Matthews-Spratley began to exert a strong influence on the proceedings.
The duo tallied 18 points combined in the first quarter, at the end of which the Dubliners led 27-26.
The Randolph name is synonymous with Irish basketball and the former international turned on the style early in the second quarter when scoring seven quickfire points to help Raiders’ grow their lead to five. A McGarrity three-pointer stemmed the tide however, and with the former Mayo footballer’s five points for the quarter equalled by Scotsman Felletti, and Joseph Owens adding another nine points, the teams cancelled themselves out exactly in the second quarter, by scoring 29 points each – Theo Daly coming in for Ballina to shoot a couple of brilliant baskets from downtown.
No more than Daly’s introduction, what became apparent the longer the game went on, was that Ballina had a greater depth to their bench. Where the Raiders continued to look mostly towards the Matthews-Spratley, Randolph and Shane Byrne axis for inspiration, Ballina introduced Dave Marrey and Matty McHale who all contributed scores during that third quarter, which ended with the Mayo outfit in command of the scoreboard, 79-70.
A brilliant layup and two points by McHale allied with points from the free throw line by Ronan O’Malley and Joseph Owens helped Team Bar Square Ballina to further build out their lead after the restart. EJ Matthews-Spratley eventually scored Raiders’ opening basket of the final quarter but the quick feet of Miles Felletti saw him respond with a brilliant basket that was supplemented by one from McGarrity, leaving Ballina with a 16 points lead (88-72), and the finish line now well within sight.
The visitors, however, weren’t willing to lie down without a fight, and they fired back with three successive three-pointers, one by Shane Byrne and two by Neil Randolph, with Neil Curran laying up for two also.
Ballina suddenly needed some inspiration again – and it came in the form of McGarrity and Owens. The former gave a court-length pass to the American who rose to smash the ball into the hoop. The hanging-off-the-basket celebration by Owens had the crowd in raptures but not the officials, who awarded a free throw to the opposition because of it, which was converted. A Byrne basket then brought the Raiders to within six of Ballina with 64 seconds remaining on the clock, but the Dublin side was in foul trouble by then. The hosts cleverly worked that to their advantage to pick up a precious first round victory.
On this evidence, Team Bar Square Ballina can look forward to being very competitive in Division 2 this season and given the entertainment offered on Saturday night, they can expect many more large home crowds to cheer them on too.
