In extra time, Maree dominated proceedings and, with Darin Johnson nailing a brace of key baskets, the points were secured for the westerners.

After the game, the Neptune player coach Lehmon Colbert vented his anger at his team’s lack of preparations in the build-up to the game.

Colbert said: “To be honest, I am not a happy camper as some of my players decided that socialising was a better option than to train over the Christmas with the team.”

Coach Colbert believes his squad need to bring their game up a few notches for the next two games that include an away league game to UCD Marian and a mouth-watering home cup semi-final against Templeogue on January 11.

Colbert added: “The teams that usually succeed in sport are the committed ones and the excuses are over as there is lots of hard work to do for the remainder of the season.”

The mood in Maree camp was one of elation as coach Mike Lynch praised his troops.

“It was always going to be a huge test for us — but with our American Darin Johnson only arriving back on the eve of the game with a chest infection it makes the win that bit more special as his contribution was restricted.”

In the Dublin derby, DCU Saints travelled to basement side Abbey Seals Dublin Lions and came away with a hard-earned 78-70 win.

Saints commanded a five- point interval lead and, despite getting pushed to the wire, solid contributions from Kevin Lacey and Michael Bonaparte saw them secure a crucial win.

Moycullen have certainly been a bogey team for Killester this season as the Galway outfit completed a league double over their Dublin opponents when securing a 69-60 win.

In a low-scoring game, Moycullen played outstanding defence and, inspired by Grant Olsson (15) and Dylan Cunningham (14), they finished 2019 in style.