19 November 2018
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
Fixtures continue apace next weekend.
Courtyard Liffey Celtics now reign supreme at the top of the Women’s Super League table after they came out 55-50-point winners over Ambassador UCC Glanmire. Both teams went into the contest unbeaten, but Liffey stood firm in the face of a late Glanmire comeback to hold out to win by five.
They are now the only unbeaten team in the league, and sit top of the table with five wins from five games – winning form that they will hope to maintain as the Hula Hoops National Cup quarter-finals loom in just a matter of weeks. Elsewhere, Fr Mathews won their second game in as many weeks at the death, pipping Pyrobel Killester by just one point (71-72) at the IWA in Clontarf on Saturday evening. A 26-point display from Shannon Brady helped them into an eight-point lead at half time, but Killester brought the game back right down to the wire and Fr Mathews had to dig deep on defence to hold onto their slender lead.
Maxol WIT Wildcats meanwhile got back to winning ways after their loss to Killester last Sunday, with a 70-51 point win over Singleton SuperValu Brunell on Saturday evening, while IT Carlow Basketball came out 57-51 point winners over Marble City Hawks in their derby game. DCU Mercy bagged a big victory on Sunday with a statement 81-25 point win over NUIG Mystics. DCU showed no Mercy to the struggling Galway side, powering into a 46-14 point by half time and keeping Mystics to just one point in the fourth quarter.
Over in the Men’s Super League, Templeogue got back to winning ways in emphatic fashion, running out 56-81 point winners over Pyrobel Killester in a big Dublin derby on Saturday evening. A solid team performance across the boards from Templeogue, saw Neil Randolph, Jason Killeen and Lorcan Murphy in the top scorers, but solid displays from Lawrence (Puff) Summers, Jean Francois Basileu and Kris Arcilla saw the visitors lead from the off and they didn’t look back once.
Speaking afterwards, head coach Mark Keenan stated: “I’m absolutely delighted, we really needed that after the last few weeks. I’m delighted for the lads as, when you go through that bit of a poor spell, it gets in on you and everybody’s doubting themselves a little, but I think we really pulled it together tonight. The guys were on the mark and we were locked in defensively so I’m delighted – it gives us all a big lift. It’s a pity that we had to go through the last few weeks to get this performance, but I’m thrilled.”
There was relief for UCD Marian head coach, Ioannis Liapakis, on Saturday evening when the final buzzer sounded at the university to see his side win out 76-73 over UCC Demons. In a game that saw nothing between the sides for the full four quarters, Liapakis admitted that while he was thrilled with the result, he wasn’t happy with his side’s performance: “I feel relief. I’m definitely not happy with the way we played but the most important thing is the result – I’m really happy with that and relieved with how the game ended. A game like that is 50-50, both teams deserved to win. We showed our character tonight.”
Belfast Star meanwhile remains top of the table with a big 106-88 point win over Moycullen. Mike Davis was once again the stand-out star for the Belfast side, top-scoring with 37 points. Just one point separated the teams at half time, with Star leading 50-49, but a huge third quarter from the hosts saw them drive into an 81-68 point lead going into the last and they didn’t look back from there. An all round solid team display also saw Mark Berlic and Sergio Vidal Baldovi combining for 39 points between them.
Elsewhere, DCU Saints continued their winning form of late with a big 86-68 point win over Griffith College Swords Thunder, Garvey’s Tralee Warriors had the better of Maree over in Galway, while C and S Neptune made it two wins in-a-row with a one-point victory over Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin.
Basketball Ireland Results – November 17/18th
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
UCD Marian 76-73 UCC Demons
Belfast Star 106-88 Moycullen
DCU Saints 86-68 Griffith College Swords Thunder
Pyrobel Killester 56-81 Templeogue
Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin 61-62 CandS Neptune
Maree 92-99 Garvey’s Tralee Warriors
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
IT Carlow Basketball 57-51 Marble City Hawks
Pyrobel Killester 71-72 Fr Mathews
Ambassador UCC Glanmire 50-55 Courtyard Liffey Celtics
Maxol WIT Wildcats 70-51 Singleton SuperValu Brunell
DCU Mercy 81-25 NUIG Mystics
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
IT Carlow Basketball 71-75 Portlaoise Panthers
LYIT Donegal 77-94 Bad Bobs Tolka Rovers
LIT 83-104 Tradehouse Central Ballincollig
Abbey Seals Dublin Lions 97-84 GameFootage.net Titans
UL Sports Eagles 71-89 Scotts Lakers St Pauls Killarney
DBS Eanna 88-83 EJ Sligo All-Stars,
Fr Mathews 109-100 Limerick Celtics
KUBS BC 87-69 Ulster University Elks
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One:
Limerick Celtics 56-57 UL Huskies
Maree 65-60 Portlaoise Panthers
Trinity Meteors 58-57 Ulster University Elks
Swords Thunder 77-64 Fabplus North West
St Mary’s Castleisland 55-68 Phoenix Rockets