Star to face MSB in final

MSB and Star of the Sea will meet in the final of the Superleague "Top Four" in Belfast tomorrow after their victories last night…

MSB and Star of the Sea will meet in the final of the Superleague "Top Four" in Belfast tomorrow after their victories last night over Dungannon and St Vincent's.

MSB survived a dramatic comeback from Dungannon to sneak in by a point, 81-80, while Star cruised to a simple 101-76 win over Dublin's other representatives.

MSB clung on thanks to a travel call on Dungannon's lanky American, Dave Steigerwald. With four seconds to go, Steigerwald drove through for what looked to be a winning lay-up, but was stopped in his tracks by the referee.

Still, the winners controlled the game for long periods and were 50-44 ahead at the break. Good inside work by Ed Randolph and Jerome Westbrooks, plus excellent driving by Randolph and Emanuel Haastrup gave MSB control.

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But Dungannon battled bravely, and right on the resumption their court captain John Feeney rifled in a three-pointer. When he added another four minutes later, it was 55-53.

The Dublin side always had the capacity to open out again and with nine minutes left were 10 points up at 71-61, with Westbrooks pulling down some excellent defensive rebounds.

During the last quarter, Dungannon stormed through in a determined effort to turn the game around, and the re-introduction of Dave Freeman had an immediate effect.

Freeman had picked up four fouls in the first 14 minutes of the game and sat out the second half until nine minutes from time.

It was then that the Northern side slipped into gear and with two minutes left it was 79-78 after point guard Jonathan McIntyre dropped in a lay-up.

With 45 seconds on the clock, the highly effective Ger Kennedy snatched a three-point play for MSB but missed the free shot. At the other end Steigerwald drove in for a basket to make it a one-point game and 13 seconds on the clock.

In a last offence by MSB, Dungannon's guard Vic Pereria intercepted and sent Steigerwald on a drive; but the travel call ended Dungannon's hopes of victory.

In the night's other match, St Vincent's began in gear and were 12 points ahead of Star with nine minutes gone; but a brace of three-pointers by Gareth Maguire shot Star ahead for the first time at 34-33.

The winners were still that slender point ahead (43-42) at the break; but then moved into overdrive as the challenge of St Vincent's wilted.