In the Men’s Superleague, University of Galway Maree maintained their unbeaten start on Saturday (8th October) with a 10-point win over Killorglin CYMS, while Moycullen were well beaten by Neptune.
In the Women’s Superleague, University of Galway Mystics were beaten by Glanmire.
Galway Bay FM's Adrian O'Neill has more.
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University of Galway Maree claim back-to-back wins in Superleague
by Cóilín Duffy
University of Galway Maree 94 Flexachem KCYMS 84
Rodrigo Gomez led the way with 26 points, Joe-Junior Mvuezolo added 22 and Jarett Haines posted 21 as University of Galway Maree withstood Flexachem KCYMS' fast-paced start to mark their home debut by maintaining their 100% record in this season's Super League – winning 94-84 on Saturday night.
Head coach Charlie Crowley was delighted with their 92-71 win over Templeogue on MD1 and they did one better among familiar surroundings at Kingfisher against tougher opposition.
In keeping with last weekend's theme, Zvonimir Cutuk and Gomez were among the players involved with some silky link-up play in the paint as Maree capitalised on their physical advantages.
Cutuk turned from creator to long-range deadeye early in the first quarter, drilling the first of his side's seven three-pointers as their spacing again proved problematic to cope with.
Flexachem forward Robert Kelly Jr, a highly-regarded 24-year-old American import, was one of the visitors' few bright notes on an evening which started encouragingly, but fizzled out rather quickly.
His explosive movement, timing and ability to score in multiple ways meant he stood out from the pack. It should be no surprise then, knowing he led the game with 35 points in 36 minutes. The next highest-scoring teammate, Liam Croke, managed just 13 by comparison.
Their case wasn't helped by a number of costly turnovers and relinquishing possession rather cheaply in the Galway half, as active hands and timely anticipation saw players repeatedly stripped and duly punished with breakaway buckets from Gomez and Haines in particular.
Having led 23-16 to end the first quarter, Robert Kelly Jr threatened to keep it close as an ever-present threat both in possession and off-ball scanning for open shooting spaces.
They say basketball is a game of runs, but KCYMS were never allowed an opportunity to get full steam ahead. Cutuk and Mvuezolo in particular made sure of this, while Galway's solid man-to-man defence forced a few shot clock violations too.
Couple that with some scrambled decision-making under duress and, well, the visitors were rarely making headway without Kelly Jr on the ball - who was being guarded tightly.
Mvuezolo's emphatic dunk, ending a sequence with sharp ball movement, appeared to demoralise the visitors.
They had an eight-point deficit to overturn at that stage, yet at half-time it almost doubled and took too long on the shot clock constructing high-efficiency plays.
Maree had more ways to score and as a consequence, could focus their defensive attention on energetic players who would punish them.
Five of Kelly Jr's last seven points were free throws - all in the fourth with a double-digit deficit - as the suffocating pressure had taken its toll and the result became increasingly secure.
Up next, University of Galway Maree host Garvey's Tralee Warriors next Saturday (7pm, Kingfisher Sports Centre, University of Galway).
Warriors somehow managed to relinquish a 14-point third quarter lead in a late collapse against Belfast Star and will be itching to atone for their mistakes in a week's time.
Afterwards, Cóilín Duffy spoke to University of Galway Maree's Rodrigo Gomez
Cóilín also spoke to University of Galway Maree's head coach Charlie Crowley
University of Galway Maree:
Starting line-up: Eoin Rockall, Rodrigo Gomez, Jarett Haines, Joe-Junior Mvuezolo, Zvonimir Cutuk.
Bench: Cathal Finn, Comhghall McCormack, Stephen Commins, Ben Burke, John Burke, Zach Light, Paul Freeman.
Flexachem KCYMS Killorglin:
Starting line-up: Liam Croke, Aleix Pujadas Tarradellas, Robert Alan Kelly Jr, Pharroh Gordon, Aksels Skaistlauks.
Bench: Ronan Fitzpatrick, Declan Wall, Conor Murphy, Shane O'Connell, Eoin Evans, Jani Griffith.
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Defending MissQuote.ie Super League champions The Address UCC Glanmire made it two wins from two with a 96-56 win at University of Galway Mystics on Saturday.
New American Brittany Byrd and captain Áine McKenna hit 26 and 21 points respectively and they were both singled out by head coach Mark Scannell afterwards.
University of Galway Maree remain unbeaten in the InsureMyVan.ie Super League, they were 10-point winners, 94-84, over Flexchem KCYMS, with Robert Alan Kelly Jr. leading their offence, on 35 points.
The final fixture of the weekend saw Energywise Ireland Neptune produce a dominant display against Moycullen to bring to total number of undefeated teams in the top tier to five. Ireland international Jordan Blount led the scoring charts with 22 points, ably assisted by Jordan Evans and Nil Sabata, who combined for 37. The result drops Galway’s Moycullen to 0-2 on the year.
Week 2 Results:
InsureMyVan.ie Super League
October 8th
University of Galway Maree 94-84 Flexchem KCYMS
October 9th
Moycullen 63-94 Energywise Ireland Neptune, Kingfisher Gym.
MissQuote.ie Super League
October 8th
University of Galway Mystics 56-96 The Address UCC Glanmire
Week 3 Fixtures:
InsureMyVan.ie Super League
October 15th
16:30|UCC Demons v Moycullen, Mardyke Arena.
19:00|University of Galway Maree v Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, Kingfisher Gym.
MissQuote.ie Super League
October 15th
15:30| University of Galway Mystics v Singleton SuperValu Brunell, Kingfisher Gym.
