Killester finish strong to seal Pat Duffy Men's Cup final glory

Killester won their sixth Pat Duffy National Cup title and first since 2019, defeating defending champions UCC Demons 92-75 in the final at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday.

Isiah Dasher picked up the MVP following a 31 point performance, but there were crucial contributions across the board, among them Kason Harrell with 16 points, Baptiste Chazelas with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Paul Dick, who shot 10 points and picked up nine rebounds.

This game was a close contest throughout, James Hannigan got the opening score from the three point line for UCC Demons and David Lehane's spin and jump shot had them 7-2 up three minutes in. It was 7-7 each after Dick picked out Harrell in the corner, who slotted his three.

A fast break and layup from Dick and it was 16-9 to Killester with just over three minutes to go, prompting a UCC Demons timout. Demons came out of the timeout with a pair of corner threes, by Kyle Hosford and Blake Murphy, either side of Andy McGeever’s three for Killester, to trail 19-15. In the closing stages of the quarter Issac Westbrooks, who turns 40 next month, landed a three, followed by a Harrell layup which saw Killester finish with a 26-18 first quarter lead.

A Tillman dunk and layup got UCC Demons off to the start they wanted to the second quarter to close the deficit, only for Harrell to drain a three pointer. Midway through the quarter a layup under the basket by Dick made it 38-29.

Within a minute that deficit was cut to two, Kyle Hosford and Elijah Tillman baskets either side of James Hannigan's three saw the Cork outfit trail 38-36. Killester opened up a six point lead, 45-39, with a minute to go following Chazelas’ score. A pair of David Lehane baskets left it at 45-41 at the break.

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