Midland Masters clinch dramatic win over Cavan in M40 National Cup

Midland Masters 54 

Cavan Eagles 51 

MIDLAND Masters managed to preserve their hopes of lifting this season’s Basketball Ireland M40 Masters National Cup following a recent dramatic 54-51 victory over Cavan Eagles in their final Round One Group C fixture in St. Mary’s Hall.

In a contest that swung back and forth right the way through, Midlands found themselves three points down after the opening quarter - a gap that was enlarged slightly to five (28-23) by the half-time recess.

But a big third-quarter performance by Martin Conroy’s side saw them turn that deficit into a two-point advantage, setting the stage for a nail-biting finish to this battle, which was, ultimately, decided inside the closing two seconds of play when, with the game deadlocked at 51 points apiece, Gediminas Selevis stepped up to drain a superb three-pointer and clinch the win for Midlands.

It was stunning finish to a game that was a must-win for Midlands, given their heavy 92-55 loss to last season’s runners-up, BC Leixlip in the opening tie of their 2026 campaign at the close of last month.

Cavan, who wrap up this pool phase with a clash against BC Leixlip at the start of March, were also desperate to secure an early win.

And the intensity of both teams’ performance, particularly down the stretch, only served to underscore the importance of a victory in this contest.

“It was tight all the way, literally nip and tuck,” recalled Midlands Masters player, Greg Dunne.

“We'd go up three or four points and they would come back and go up a basket or two. Both teams were thinking this was going to overtime.

“Martin Conroy (head coach) called a timeout with seven-and-a-half seconds to go and he drew up a play. But when we went back out on the floor and they saw the setup, they then took a timeout and so we came back in.

“Martin didn't change anything, he just kind of tightened it up and so we went back out again, and set up the same way. They then called another timeout, so this was now three timeouts in a row.

“We went back out, inbounded the ball on the play that Martin had drawn up, and we got the shot in the corner for Gediminas and he sank it,” Dunne told the Laois Nationalist.

It was just the result that Midlands were in search of in the wake of their opening game defeat at the hands of Leixlip, which Dunne knew was always going to be a huge test, given the quality of their opponents who were stopped just one step short of the National Masters Cup last season when they were edged out 86-79 by Bothers Near and Far (BNAF) in the decider.

“Most of them (BC Leixlip) are ex-pros, and those players who weren’t pros, still played at very high standard,” remarked Dunne.

“That’s the standard the Ireland national team would be meeting when we go to play in Europe. They just don't miss and they punish you on everything,” he said.

Midlands are now waiting on the result of the clash between Cavan and Leixlip to see who they will face in the last eight of the competition.