Tonight in a thriller at Galway Community College The Titans Div 2 Themis qualified for the Shield Finals with an overtime victory against their friends from The Tribes. The Titans had been behind for the entire game , except for the last 3 seconds….with 3 minutes and 51seconds they were still 11 points adrift, til joe Coughlan hit an outside shot,and another from in close,Lydon and De Silva hit a couple of free throws; john Hunt limped back on to steady the ship and The Tribes, who had been prolific from downtown and the free throw line..seemed to dry up.Meanwhile the Titans Defence and rebounding was solid, and in one last 12 second surge, they had 4 attempts from under the hoop that wouldnt drop, til the wirey, highflying David Dillon got fouled on a putback,dropped the 2 , stepped up to the line and nailed the equalizer to take the game to overtime. In overtime the Titans Mike Lydon, Bernard Cleary, and David Dillon, drove strong to the hole and finished out the game for a surprise win for the Titans and a Finals match up against Na Ngael who (equally as surprisingly crushed Moycullen 66- 27 tonight also).

Tonights victory in the Cup Semi Final is even more noteworthy, when you consider thatnin this same fixture 5 months ago, when the Themis side introduced some of their youngsters to Mens Basketball, they had gotten a baptism of fire in this same ,match up, having been found wanting on the physical aspects, and been pressed by their more experienced adaversaries..losing out of the game,  Titans Themis – 25 v Tribes – 73 on the night..but instead of giving up, the Themis side, under the direction of John Hunt and David McAndrews trained harder, dug deeper,and learned how to get back up every time they were knocked down..Tonights performance was not just a 53 point turnaround, but a tribute to the Titans L.T.A.D.Long Term Athlete Development programme…as evidenced by the powerful performances of Dale Creaven; The ever evolving Darragh Clifford;The Athletic David Dillon who hit 14 points; The Big Man,Bruce Silva the Forward turned pointguard who chips in 16 points on a regular basis; the Basketball Intelligence of Kyle Walsh..are all icing on the cake, built on the foundation of Fundamentals and Solid Defence of Mike Lydon, Joe Coughlan,Bernard Cleary, John Hunt and Dave McAndrew.Well Done Themis, in making it to the Shileld Finals you now Join Titans Reservus who play Claregalway in the Dominick King Cup Final and The Titans Ladies who last night defeated Moycullen to qualify for the Ladies Cup Finals.

Our Reservus Team will take on the in form, Claregalway Senior Mens team who last night quailified for the Division One Mens Cup Final in Oranmore on April 16th by beating Maree 2 in Claregawlay by 85 points to 66points with..Marius Sarapajevas and Mike Murray each scoring 23 pts, along with 13 from Ryan Murray and 7 from linus Mitkus.

The Galway Area Board wish to announce the date, time and venue for the Shield and Cup Finals as …
Tuesday April 15th 20:45 Men’s Shield Final Titans Themis v Na Ngael                        venue Calasanctius College Oranmore;

Wednesday April 16th 19:15 Ladies Cup Final Titans Ladies v winner of (Claregalway v Corrib) venue Calasanctius College Oranmore.

Wednesday April 16th 20:45 Men’s Cup Final Claregalway v Titans Reservus venue Calasanctius College Oranmore.

Get along and Support your Club!

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