32 points from Limerick Sport Eagles' Alex Carlisle helped them to an 84-68 win against Templeogue at MTU Arena on Saturday, to set up a Domino's MD1 National Cup final date against Drogheda Wolves in two weeks.
Eagles came out of the traps fast, scoring the opening eight points of the game and would continue to race into an 18-3 lead in the opening minutes of the game. Scores from Eduardo Castano and Wilfried Omorusi would reduce the deficit for Templeogue, but Eagles would still hold a 12-point lead.
Templeogue would produce a much more stern showing in the second period of play, with the first nine points of the second quarter to come back to within three points, but a strong finish to the half from Eagles would see them go in at half-time with a nine-point cushion.
After a 14-point first quarter, Alex Carlisle would come out on fire in the second half. Carlisle would go on to score 13 of his 32 points in the third quarter on 5-7 shooting with 100% shooting from three-point range. Even with a 22-point third quarter, Templeogue still could not find a singular lead in this game, with Eagles entering the final ten minutes of the game with a 13-point gap in the scoreline.
It was Fryderyk Klimas who stood out in the fourth for the Eagles, with all ten of his points coming in the fourth, with just eight minutes of play from him in the fourth. Both sides traded baskets in the fourth, but to no avail for the Dublin side, as the Eagles only extended their lead and would run out 16-point victors.
After the double-double from Tobias Christensen and 32 from Carlisle, Eagles meet fellow Division One playoff hopefuls in Drogheda Wolves in the Domino’s MD1 National Cup final in Tallaght in two weeks time.
Quarter Scores: Q1: 14-26, Q2: 17-14, Q3: 22-26, Q4:15-18
Game Scores: Q1: 14-26, Q2: 31-40, Q3: 53-66, Q4: 68-84
Templeogue:
Conor Gallagher (8), Eduardo Castano (7), Evan Cook (6), Adam Tighe (0), Jake Mullins (4), Hector Parras (6), Daniel Cassidy (0), Aaron Doherty (1), Wilfried Omorusi (15), Daire Murray (2), Millan Lopez (7), Michael Gormley (12).
Limerick Sport Eagles:
Jake Moore (0), Fryderyk Klimas (10), Daniel Shahab (10), Kirill Yakovlev (0), Ryan Leonard (12), Darragh Horkan (3), Colm Hackett (2), Alex Carlisle (32), Ajay Ryan Walsh (0), Sean Ryan (2), Ronan Cregan (0), Tobias Christensen (13).