MAREE moved to joint top of the Men’s Division One table with an emphatic 36-point win over Titans in Oranmore on Saturday, their elevation to the top of the standings helped by Maigh Cuilinn, who produced their best display of the season to overturn league leaders Portlaoise Panthers.

In the Women’s Division One, a gutsy fightback from University of Galway Mystics came up just short against Dublin Lions, and they will hope that Demetra Yennari, who missed the game, will be available for this weekend’s cup clash up in Lisburn.

MEN’S DIVISION ONE

Maree 104

Titans 68

Not even in imagining a best-case scenario would Maree have reckoned on as emphatic a win as they recorded in Oranmore on Saturday night when blowing away the Titans challenge in ruthless fashion.

The two sides had met in the cup back in early November, when Maree needed a strong final quarter to advance to the quarter-finals with a 16-point win, but they had this one as good as wrapped up by half-time when they led by 13.

Any hope of a Titans fightback after the break were quickly extinguished as Maree hit 29 third-quarter points, including seven 3-pointers; and there was no let-up in the final quarter as they broke the magical 100-point mark as part of a late 17-0 run.

There was little between the sides in the first quarter, both teams struggling on offence in the opening stages as an Umar Rachid 3-pointer had Titans 9-4 up, with Justin Wickham seeing back-to-back efforts for Maree circle the rim before dropping out.

The visitors managed to negate the scoring threat of Maree’s US star, Isaiah Taylor, holding him to five points in the opening quarter, but that just seemed to poke the bear as he came alive in the second quarter on his way to finishing with 32 points.

Rinor Dragusha topped that with 36 points for the home side, and with Justin Wickham pulling down 12 rebounds, nine of which were under his own board, it showed the dominance of Maree.

They went from leading 22-19 at the end of the first quarter to enjoying a 51-38 cushion at half-time. Then came that third quarter blitz to shove them 80-52 in front; and while Fortune Igbokwe (15 points and 12 rebounds) shone bright for Titans, the visitors had no answer to the scoring power of Maree, with home captain John Burke fittingly hitting the bucket to break the century mark.

Maree head to Antrim this weekend to take on Ulster University in the quarter-finals of the Presidents Cup; while Titans have a two-week break before a league trip to Donegal in mid-December.

Maree: I Taylor (32), R Dragusha (36), H Bevan (6), J Wickham (10), J Burke (10), D Oyeleye (2), J Morris (2), C Cannon (4), M Devanney-Wynne.

Titans: J Coughlan (7), F Igbokwe (15), U Rashid (26), D Gbinigie (11), M Sweeney (3), C McCormack (3), B Powell, N Gbinigie (2), V Tashev, L Herrick (3), A Fitzgerald.

Pictured: The University of Galway Mystics squad WHICH hosted Dublin Lions in the league on Saturday. Back row, from left: Paul Langan (head coach), Demetra Yennari, Erin Dillon, Gemma Brennan, Ellie Glavin, Eve Minier, Olivia Sasse, Emma Glavin, Isabella Quinn, Eabheann Conneely, Anne O’Brien, Sarah McNamara, Claire Hickey, and Alex Evans (assistant coach). Front: Laura Lopez Morera, Aoibhín Connolly, Lucie Hatert, Kara McCleane, Georgia Munnelly, Lily Hynes, and Caoimhe Keogh. Photo: Karen Smyth.