Preview: InsureMyHouse.ie Pat Duffy Cup Final

“This is the game everyone wants to play in. It’s the biggest week in Irish basketball.” Two short sentences from former Irish international captain and UCC Demons Kyle Hosford and nobody should be left in any doubt about the importance of InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup Finals weekend for any of the 22 teams involved.

The seven times InsureMyHouse.ie Pat Duffy Cup champions are no strangers to the showpiece occasion, but they are in search of their first win since the 2014/15 season. The club have lifted an InsureMyHouse.ie Presidents’ Cup in the interim, following relegation to the National League, but Hosford believes Saturday night at the National Basketball Arena will be something special for this group.

“It’s a new generation of players and when you get up there - you have everything. The music, the fans, the hype, the tv cameras but look our semi-final against Energywise Ireland Neptune was in front of a packed crowd so we’re well used to it.”

There is never an easy road to a final, but on paper UCC Demons have had a particularly tough run to a chance at silverware. They knocked off defending champions Maree BC 93-88 in round one, before handling the form team in Irish basketball at the time Belfast Star 105-96 in December and of course coming out on top of an epic overtime duel with Energywise Ireland Neptune 100-93 in the last four. Many will view another huge Elijah Tillman performance as being the key to success, but if Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU lean their defence too much in accounting for him – there are plenty of other weapons in UCC Demons ranks for them to lift the hardware around 10pm on Saturday night.

Andre Nation, Shawndale Jones Jr, Adrian O'Sullivan (Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU) and Seventh Woods, David Lehane and Kyle Hosford pictured with the InsureMyHouse.ie Pat Duffy Cup.

The statistics and form book may point towards a win for Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU. They’re 2-1 against their local rivals in the last two InsureMyVan.ie Super League campaigns, while their 9-3 record in defence of their league crown has been in contrast to UCC Demons struggles at 3-8. Ciaran O’Sullivan’s side lead their opponents in all statistical categories in league play outside of FT%, steals per game and opponents points per game (0.6 diff), yet everyone at the National Basketball Arena and watching live on TG4 know this Cork derby is going down to the wire.

Pittsburgh native Shawndale Jones Jr got a taste of the emotion of the InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup in the aftermath of Keelan Cairns epic buzzer beater at Neptune Stadium and he wouldn’t mind more of the same this weekend. “I don’t know, we are two great teams,” said Jones Jr.

“It’s definitely a game that could go either way you know, we are game planning for one another and it can come right down to making or missing one shot and that is exciting for the fans, not for coaches or players. Everybody is going to be ready, the atmosphere is going to be wild and both teams will be ready to throw their first punch. We know we are in for a fight.”

‘Fight’ is probably the correct word to describe Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU’s path to the dance. They required three free-throws in the final 30 seconds to edge past Templeogue 95-92 in the opening round, before 30 points from Shawndale Jones Jr. guided them by Ulster University 95-89 in the quarter-finals. There aren’t words to describe the crescendo of their semi-final win over Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, but it has definitely lifted the club to cloud nine in the build-up to this weekend’s decider.  Will Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU complete the set of the most prestigious trophies in Irish basketball or will UCC Demons elevate their club back to the promised land? Either way it is set up to be an epic tussle at the National Basketball Arena from 8pm on Saturday night. Watch it live on TG4.