Dublin Lions defeat St. Brendan’s Tralee 99-54 to secure Billy Coffey U18 Men’s National Cup

Dublin Lions defeated St. Brendan’s Tralee 99-54 to secure the Billy Coffey U18 Men’s National Cup at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday. Mykyta Hunte had 26 points and 12 rebounds on his way to picking up the MVP, while Dublin Lions had five players in double figures, including Markas Mikalickas (24) and Majust Raziunas (23). Shareef Elmahi had a big game on the boards with 19 points, to go along with his 13 points. 

Both sides started well with St. Brendan's gaining an early 7-6 advantage following Brooklyn Conway's three. Hural responded immediately with a three of his own - he'd finish the quarter with 11 points. It remained close, a big three from Daniel Spring saw St. Brendan's trail 19-16 with a little under three minutes to go. Hural had the final say in the quarter to give Dublin Lions a 24-18 lead.

The second quarter started off in similar ilk as the first, with both sides running the ball end-to-end in a very fast-paced matchup. As the quarter wore on, St. Brendan's slowly started to force themselves back into the game - Daniel Spring, Conor McGibney and Conway all put down scores to cut the lead to as little as one point midway through the second at 33-32. In the final four minutes, Lions went on a 17-2 run to end the quarter with Elmahi and Raziunas key to it, as Lions went in at the half-time break up 51-34.

Dublin Lions, losing finalists in 2024, really turned up the heat in the third quarter with six different players adding points.. Six unanswered points to start the quarter put Dublin Lions well on their way to building a commanding 35-point lead at the end of the quarter, while their defence kept St. Brendan's scoreless in the final three minutes, Dublin Lions 81-46 in front.

Mykyta Hural presented with the MVP award following the Billy Coffey U18 Men's National Cup final at the National Basketball Arena.

St. Brendan's kept plugging away in the final quarter with scores from Paddy Lucid, Kevin O'Shea, a pair of Lucid fre throws saw them trail 87-52 with six minutes to go. It was a margin that was never going to be reeled in as Lions sealed a 99-54 win, the final score coming from Hural.

Quarter Scores:

Q1- 18-24, Q2- 16-27, Q3- 12-30, Q4- 8-18

Game Scores:

Q1- 18-24, Q2- 34-51, Q3- 46-81, Q4- 54-99

St. Brendan’s Tralee:

Samson Abubakar (0), Liam O’Rahilly(0), Kevin O’Shea (6), Fionan Brosnan (2), Rory Bowler (0), Brooklyn Conway (9), Ryan Sheehy (21), Daniel Spring (6), Conor McGibney (4), Paddy Lucid (4), Daniel Roche (0), Timmy Kennelly (2)

Dublin Lions:

Shareef Elmahi(13), Majus Raziunas(23), Bentoy Monshengwo(11), Nicholas Dinca(0), Alex Field(2), David Ajavon(0), Markas Mikalickas(24), Tiarnan Diffily(0), Robert Dremakovs(0), Mykyta Hural(26)