Courtyard Liffey Celtics dropped their first game of the season on Saturday as they lost out to Pyrobel Killester in the IWA Clontarf.
An explosive first quarter from the home side along with strong performances from Chantell Alford and Rebecca Nagle helped Killester seal a 72-64 victory.
“We felt like we were playing as good as anyone in the league, we have a lot of confidence in what we do and Liffey have been brilliant in the first couple of weeks, so to come out and get a first half performance like we did – I was so proud of them,” said head coach Karl Kilbride. “We shot the ball really well in the first half and it dried up in the second, but the thing that we are really happy with is, defensively in the second half we were excellent.”
Meanwhile Singleton SuperValue Brunell went head-to-head against Ambassador Glanmire in a thrilling Cork derby match up. Trailing at the half, Glamire had to dig deep in the fourth quarter to claim a 68-56 point victory.
Elsewhere, it was a tough weekend for Maxol WIT Wildcats as they lost out 80-52 to DCU Mercy, while Portlaoise Panthers bounced back from their tough loss last week to take the win over NUIG Mystics.
In the Men’s Super League Griffith College Swords Thunder continued their excellent recent form as they edged out Black Amber Templeogue in an overtime thriller in front of a capacity crowd in the Oblate Hall. Despite Lorcan Murphy netting an impressive 32 points, it was Travis Black’s performance in the second half for Thunder that was the catalyst to the visitor’s victory.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” said a relieved head coach Dave Baker. “When it went to overtime I felt that we had the momentum but all credit to Templeogue they actually came out better at the start of the overtime. We struggled at little bit at the beginning but then we loosened up and we started to come back at them. It was to and fro, so it could have gone either way.”
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors made the long trip up north to go head-to-head with Belfast Star. Warriors took an early 10-point lead in the first half thanks to top scoring from Trae Pemberton and Goran Pantovic. That cushion proved enough as the Warriors secured a thirteen point win in the end.
“I told the guys before the game tough times don’t last, tough people do. We brought nine guys up there and they showed great resiliency, said a delighted head coach Mark Bernsen. “The first three quarters of the game we played as about as good as we can play at both ends of the floor. We let them come back a little in fourth but I’m really proud of our guys.”
DCU Saints travelled to IWA-Clontarf to take on neighbours Pyrobel Killester in a north side derby. A third quarter run from the home team was the difference as Killester ended up securing a comfortable 98-66 win. Elsewhere, Maree clocked their third win in a row on Saturday as they ran out winners over Eanna, while UCD Marian took a comfortable win over Moycullen and UCC Demons proved too much for KUBS in Cork.
Basketball Ireland Detailed Results November 24th - 26th
Basketball Ireland Men's Super League
UCD Marian 82-61 Moycullen
Top scorers UCD Marian: Mike Garrow 25, Joan-Jordi Vals-Llobera 15, Conor Meany 13
Top scorers Moycullen: Paddy Lyons 13, Joseph Tummons 9, Brandon MaGuire 8, Dylan Cunningham 8
Half time score: UCD Marian 45-39 Moycullen
Maree 83-73 Eanna
Top scorers Maree: Eoin Rockall 21, Kenneth Hansberry 18, Cathal Finn 14
Top scorers Eanna: Tamron Manning 26, Neil Lynch 20, Conor Gallagher 10
Half time score: Maree 46-33 Eanna
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
Portlaoise Panthers 71-52 NUIG Mystics
Top scorers Portlaoise Panthers: Stephanie Schmid 30, Stephanie Poland 12, Maeve Phelan 9
Top scorers NUIG Mystics: AineMcDonagh 16, Maggie Byrne 15, Dayna Finn 9
Portlaoise Panthers 37-29 NUIG Mystics
Basketball Ireland Mens Division One:
Portlaoise Panthers 96-79 GameFootage.net Titans
Top scorers Portlaoise Panthers: Tim Stewart 28, Mantas Vilimas 24, Jack Scully 8
Top scorers GameFootage.net Titans: Keegan Ryan 34, Eoin Coughlan 15, Toms Fabriciuss 11
Portlaoise Panthers 48-37 GameFootage.net Titans
Basketball Ireland Fixtures: November 30th to December 3rd
Thursday 30th November 2017
Hula Hoops Women’s National Cup:
NUIG Mystics v IT Carlow Basketball, Calsanctius College, 20:30;
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
UCD Marian v Éanna, UCD, 20:00;
Friday 1st December 2017
Hula Hoops Women’s National Cup Quarter Final:
Courtyard Liffey Celtics v DCU Mercy, Leixlip Amenities Centre, 20:20;
Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic
Manhattan v Holy Cross, SSE Arena, Belfast, 16.30
Towson v La Salle, SSE Arena, Belfast, 19.00
Saturday 2nd December 2017
Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic
Runner up match, SSE Arena, Belfast, 14.30
Championship game, SSE Arena, Belfast, 17.00
Sunday 3rd December 2017
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Griffith College Swords Thunder v Pyrobel Killester, ALSAA-Dublin, 15:00;
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors v UCC Demons, Tralee Sports Complex, 15:00;
Belfast Star v KUBS BC, Methodist College, 15:00;
Black Amber Templeogue v DCU Saints, Oblate Hall Inchicore, 15:30;
Hula Hoops Women’s National Cup Quarter Finals:
Singleton SuperValu Brunell v Maxol WIT Wildcats, Parochial Hall, 14:45;
Pyrobel Killester v Ambassador UCC Glanmire, I.W.A Clontarf, 15:00;
Hula Hoops President’s Cup Quarter Finals:
Ballincollig v Portlaoise Panthers, Ballincollig CS, 13:00;
Neptune v GameFootage.net Titans, Neptune Stadium, 14:00;
Paris Texas Kilkenny v Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin, O Loughlins GAA, 14:00;
Hula Hoops Senior Women’s Cup Quarter Final:
Fabplus North West v UL Huskies, ColaisteChoilmcilleBallyshannon, 15:00;
Hula Hoops Men’s Under 20 Cup Quarter Finals:
Ballincollig v Tolka Rovers, Ballincollig CS, 11.00
Hula Hoops NICC Women’s Cup Quarter Finals:
Killester v Glanmire, St David’s Artane, 12.30.
