The holders Notre Dame dug deeply into their depleted resources to extract a performance of tremendous spirit and sustained effort to just hold off Star of the Sea's extraordinary final effort to send this first men's semi-final of the National Cup to over-time at the National Basketball Arena last night.

Playing on their home court, Notre Dame used every cheer from the mostly partisan crowd of 2,500 to unsettle and eventually unhinge their Belfast opponents in an intensely physical duel, tainted by a controversial conclusion.

Star led 33-32 after a poor enough first half by both teams, characterised by errors and bad shooting. But Notre Dame began to string their passes together far better in the second half and went into an 11-point lead entering the final quarter.

Star's Americans Chuck Guittar and John Leahy were very disappointing in their third period and only Gareth Maguire with the 31point game total and five secondhalf three pointers kept Star in touch. It was Maguire who drove his side into a last-ditch revival which narrowed the deficit down to just two points at 74-72, with 30 seconds to go when referee Jim Long called a hotly disputed intentional foul on Star's Adrian Fulton.

From subsequent free throws, Notre Dame went five points clear with 20 seconds left at which point they seemed to be safe. However, Maguire again brought the deficit back to three points and then suffered the agony of seeing his three-point attempt to level the match bounce clear of the rim in the very last second.