Garvey's Tralee Warriors got back to winning on their home court with a 96-87 confidence boosting win over St. Vincent’s in Round 6 of the Domino's Mens Super League ahead of a National Cup date with Energywise Ireland Neptune in Castleisland Community Centre next Saturday night.
The Warriors started without the services of their top scorer and rebounder Iggy Hunte but with a combination of Eoin Quigley, Jordan Perkins, Cian Sullivan and a major effort from Daniel Jokuabitis they led 15-7 midway through the opening quarter. Saints replied through Eoin McCann with four scores before the League’s top marksman Jaylyn Richardson swished a three to see the sides level at 15-15. Jokubaitis nailed another major score with Padraig Fleming and Dan Bowler opening their account and despite late effort from Richardson and Adam Lisewski for Saints, the Warriors took a 22-19 lead into the second quarter.
Saints got the start they needed in the second by striking for an unanswered 10 points to open up a 29-22 lead. Olaf Michalczuk then stepped into the spotlight by firing down an individual volley of 10 points including two brilliant three pointers to bring the sides level. Baskets from Richardson and James Phelan edged the visitors ahead again but Warriors conjured up a blinding finish to the quarter as the scores simply rained down on the Saints basket. Quigley, Jokubaitis and Perkins all got in on the action before the hosts finished with a major each from Jokubaitis and Perkins to take a 51-40 lead to the long break.
Saints again turned to their sharpshooter Richardson to trigger a response and a double from him cut the gap to 7 and despite McCann bringing his tally to 12 with a double of his own, the Warriors moved up a gear to take full control of the contest with four scores from Jokubaitis and one each from Bowler and Oisin Kerlin to leave Saints chasing a 15 point lead. Warriors pushed on again and a Quigley double sparked a late flurry of scores from Fleming, Bowler and a score from inside and out from Perkins to put the Tralee side 80-55 up at the end of the third.
Saints needed a quick start to mount any sort of comeback and got exactly that when baskets from Dorian Lagoeyte, Benjamin Ubaekwe and Richardson were added to by a major score from Liam Kinsella and the gap was down to 14. Quigley, Perkins and Keelan Crowe combined to keep double digits between the teams but when Richardson knocked down two identical threes the gap was down to 9. It got better for Saints when Richardson struck for an and one after Phelan landed his fourth of the game, it was all to play for with just 6 between the sides and two minutes on the clock. However, Saints foul trouble put Warriors on the line for a series of free throws that killed off the momentum and when Perkins hit the insurance score in the final minute the deal was sealed with Warriors claiming their 4th win of the League campaign by 96-87 in the end.
Scorers:
Garvey's Tralee Warriors: McCarthy Insurance MVP Daniel Jokubaitis 26, Jordan Perkins 23, Eoin Quigley 17
St. Vincent’s: Jaylyn Richardson 31, Eoin McCann 13, Benjamin Ubaekwe 11
Next up for the Warriors is a trip to Castleisland to face Energywise Ireland Neptune in the first round of the Pat Duffy National Cup. Tip off at the Castleisland Community Centre next Saturday night is 7.30pm.Wrriors
