By Lorcan Kelly 

Isaiah Taylor scored 43 points and Christian Alexander added 27 as UCD Marian beat a hot-shooting Tralee Warriors side in a thriller. UCD trailed for most of the first half but came back through their big men and their defensive intensity.

UCD dominated the paint early, with Tanner Graham and Christian Alexander connecting on the opening play. Tralee’s Daniel Jokubaitis answered with a three and a block. Alexander worked inside for four points off a nice pump fake and a feed from Isaiah Taylor. Graham then ran the fast break and set up Tom Maguire with a nice assist. After a Tralee timeout, Graham carried on his paint dominance with a block. Jaden Daughtry went to the bench with 3:30 left in the quarter after picking up 3 quick fouls, having helped build Tralee’s momentum with a couple of nice plays. Tralee built an advantage through good ball movement, with Alec Millenderand Daniel Jokubaitis shooting well from three, and led 26-21 at the end of the first.

Alec Millender stayed hot from deep, and after getting a smothered look to fall, it seemed it wouldn't be UCD Marian's night. Graham had a nice chasedown block, but Tralee's Daniel Jokubaitis hit another three, and Tralee built a 13-point lead by shooting well and running in transition. Isaiah Taylor then put in a shift, hitting multiple threes, getting to the basket and the foul line. Taylor scored 26 first-half points, and UCD went into the break just one point down, 53-52.

UCD’s big men took over, led by Christian Alexander, who played bully ball and dominated the boards. Tanner Graham added another block. Tralee’s Alec Millender scored a mid-range pull-up off a nice crossover, but Taylor kept feeding Alexander’s hot hand, even with Tralee’s Daniel Jokubaitis unfortunately going down injured. Tralee managed to swing momentum back in their favour with good team basketball and led 75-71 going into the fourth.

UCD’s squad delivered in the clutch, with the game closely balanced with only a couple of minutes to go Tanner Graham and Cristian Alexander linked up again off a Graham cut to take the lead. Christian Alexander scored a clutch hook shot and a big three from Ronan Byrne then helped seal the win, 104-93, much to the large home crowd’s delight.