And there was to be another twist in the added period as Neptune were again denied at the death — this time Killorglin’s American Alann Thomas shot the buzzer beater to seal a win against all the odds.

All the talk afterwards was of O’Reilly’s first missile. The official length of a basketball court is 94 feet so his shot was estimated at 90 feet.

However, furious Neptune player coach Lehmon Colbert was convinced time had already elapsed before O’Reilly got the shot away.

“First of all let me state that Colin O’Reilly’s shot was an incredible one but let me add by saying it was an impossibility for him to do what he did in one second.

“From what I witnessed we had three referees looking at one another and then I am told it was the local commissioner who made the final decision when it was clear that the buzzer was gone.”

Elsewhere, a masterclass performance from Paul Dick helped champions Garvey’s Tralee Warriors defeat UCD Marian 86-78 in a thrilling Men’s Super League clash at Belfield.

In a game that was competitive from tip-off the Warriors commanded a 37-35 interval lead but in the third period they took command with Dick and the outstanding Kieran Donaghy battling like trojans in defence and on the boards.

UCD Marian, to their credit, refused to wilt and baskets from Mike Garrow and Scott Kinevane saw the Dublin side edge ahead with four minutes remaining.

Cometh the hour cometh the man as Dick took control with some unstoppable drives to the hoop that saw his side dominate the closing minutes and secure a crucial win in their bid to retain the title.

Griffith College Templeogue were dealt a major blow after their recent revival as they lost 90-79 at home to Belfast Star in a thriller.

The northerners were superb from start to finish and coach Adrian Fulton couldn’t hide his delight: “We had lost some form in recent weeks but we now look a decent unit again and credit to the lads they finished out this game in style.”

The Pyrobel Killester nightmare season continued at Clontarf when they went down to Dublin outfit DCU Saints 95-89. Hero for the winners was former Killester veteran American Michael Bonaparte who contributed a game-high 36 points.

Eanna continued their tremendous run with a 92-76 win over bottom side Abbey Seals Dublin Lions with Stefan Zecivic again proving his class with a 23-point contribution.

Maree were victorious in the Galway derby with a hard fought 87-79 win over Moycullen. Moycullen led 43-38 at the break before Maree recovered in the second half to run out eight-point winners.

In the Women’s Super League, leaders DCU Mercy had few problems disposing of Liffey Celtics 76-33 who had no Americans in their squad.

Ambassador UCC Glanmire produced an awesome display of defending to defeat Maree 72-67. The newly promoted Maree have taken the league by storm this season and defeated the Cork side in the opening round but here Glanmire showed true grit and led from start to finish.

For coach Mark Scannell this was a crucial win heading into the Christmas break.

Scannell said: “My Americans go home for Christmas and hopefully they both come back in a good frame of mind as we have a cup semi-final on January 11 against Killester to contend with.”

Fr Mathews got back to winning ways but were pushed all the way before seeing off the resilient basement side Marble City Hawks 67-63.

Singleton’s SuperValu Brunell lost out to Killester 95-93 after overtime in a thriller at the Parochial Hall. The sides were level at 87 points each in normal time but Killester inspired by Americans Christa Reed and Adela Randle-El secured a win at the death.