Intervarsities titles for Griffith College, Trinity and Ulster University

There was double Intervarsities success for Griffith College, as they claimed the men's A and women's B titles at UL at the weekend, while Trinity took women's A honours and Ulster University lifted the men's B title.

March Madness may come and go. But UL Arena played host to April Absurdity, with 68 games of college basketball in just three days. And in all of the chaotic action, we were left with just eight teams contesting four finals on the University of Limerick court on Sunday.

Griffith College and SETU Waterford didn’t get much of a lie in, as they kicked off the final's day with a 10:15am tip-off in the Varsities Women’s B Final. Both teams came flying out of the traps going shot for shot in the first quarter, which ended level at 13 a piece. Griffith kept that run going until half-time, where they found themselves up by four points at 30-26. They showed serious resolve to withstand the SETU onslaught in the third to preserve that four-point lead, but once it got to the final quarter, Griffith and their MVP Keowa “Keke” Walters, really turned in the style. They flew into an 18-point lead and confirmed their champions status by 19, with a final score of 67-46.

Griffith College won the Intervarsities Women's B title. Photo courtesy Michelle La Grue Photography

It was then time for the men to take to the court, as DCU - who were fresh off a dominant 29 point victory in the semi-final over MTU Kerry - faced Ulster University, who themselves had just squeezed past DKIT in a four-point win. The game tipped off at a stern pace, with both teams putting their best defensive performances possible on in the final. It went in to the second quarter with DCU edging ahead by a point in a low scoring affair, at 11-10. Ulster came roaring back in the second, with 23-point offensive sector, as they went in at the half up 33-26. Once it was was back up and running in the second half, Ulster kept their foot to the gas and put on a solid show on both sides of the ball. They hit over 50 before the fourth quarter, whilst holding DCU to 41. DCU tried everything to carve into the lead, but it proved too big of a mountain, as Ulster took home the Varsities B title by a score of 63-52. Eric Anderson of Ulster University took home the golden ball for MVP for a high-flying performance with blocks and dunks everywhere.

Ulster University claimed the Intervarsities Men's B title at UL. Photo courtesy Michelle La Grue Photography

Moving into the afternoon session, and it was time for the A division games, starting with the women's final, as Trinity College faced Ulster University who were looking to do back-to-back finals triumphs in one day. And once we got underway on Court 2 in UL, it looked like Ulster were about to do just that. Ulster jumped straight into a 12-0 lead early on, and kept the pressure on looking to take home the gold. Yet when the second quarter kicked off, Trinity started hitting on all cylinders and slowly chipped away at the margin until they finally went ahead and went into halftime with 34-30 being the score to the Dublin college. And once they went ahead, they never looked back. An impressive shooting performance from MVP Hannah Murphy ensured Trinity went back to Leinster with the Varsity Women’s A Cup by a score of 58-53.

Trinity College lifted the Women's A title at the Intervarsities in Limerick on Sunday. Photo courtesy Michelle La Grue Photography

And speaking of colleges attempting to go back-to-back, the Final’s Day came to a climax with the Men’s A final being contested between Griffith College, who had also won the Women’s B earlier, and TUD, who had dominated ATU Donegal in a 74-58 win on Day 2 in their semi-final. And TUD looked set to carry on their offensive prowess that they displayed on Day 2, by racing into an early lead. Griffith answered back with their own solid play, but still ended the quarter behind by three. Griffith pressed on in the second and yet still TUD had enough resolve to take a marginal lead in with them at half-time, up 26-25. It was then TUD’s turn to show some quality on the ball, as they went ten-up early in the third quarter, yet Griffith didn’t go away quietly. As it reached the business end of the final, Griffith cut the lead from 10 to just one point with four minutes to go. They then nosed ahead by three with just moments left. But as TUD got back level, Griffith came up clutch, as they responded with a deep three and a fast-break dunk, that put the game from a one-score gap to a seven-point lead. A free throw put the cherry on top of a sublime Griffith College performance, as they ran out 60-52 winners and went home with their second trophy of the day, driven by MVP Evan Blackmon, who put on an offensive clinic.

Griffith College won the Men's A title on Sunday at the Intervarsities in Limerick 

And just like that, Varsities weekend in the University of Limerick came to a close, in what was an action-packed three days of comebacks, blowouts, and buzzer-beaters. No doubt Varsities 2025 will have a high bar to reach to match the quality on the court last weekend.

Article written by: Ciaran Rice