Belfast Star and Griffith Swords Thunder kept their winning start to the season intact this weekend as they overcame Maree and Eanna respectively at their home venues.
“We are very happy to get the win,” said Thunder, head coach, Dave Baker. “The league is tough though and we still have a lot of work to do.”
Elsewhere Pyrobel Killester upset reigning league champions, Black Amber Templeogue, in a thrilling Dublin derby at Oblate Hall on Saturday evening, running out 96-82 point winners on the night.
“It’s a big win for us, Templeogue are an outstanding team, we lost to them twice last year and if you go down through the players on their roster, it’s like a who’s who of Irish basketball,” admitted Killester head coach, Brian O’Malley.
“We played with that little bit of desperation today that maybe Templeogue didn’t have. We had a tough start this year and last year, Thunder and Templeogue, so a baptism of fire. We felt all week that we let ourselves down a little bit last week, so it’s good for us to come out with the win.”
The other big clash of the weekend saw UCD Marian overcome UCC Demons in a nail-biter in Dublin, 83-80.
“I’m feeling relieved,” said UCD Marian Head coach, Ioannis Liapakis after the game. “We knew that it was going to be a difficult game, because Demons had the momentum from last week when they beat Tralee - we knew it was going to be a battle.”
In the other Super League games of the weekend, Garvey’s Tralee Warriors made light work of Mark Ingle’s KUBS side, running out 75-37 point winners while DCU Saints made the long trip to Galway worthwhile, coming out the right side of their clash with Moycullen, 85-78.
Matt St Amour was making waves in the Men’s Division One once more meanwhile, as he drove home to a whopping 53 points for LIT Celtics this weekend. It wasn’t enough for his side to take the win though, as they were defeated by St Paul’s Killarney.
Basketball Ireland Results: September 23-24th
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Belfast Star 109-64 Maree
UCD Marian 83-80 UCC Demons
Moycullen 78-85 DCU Saints
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors 75-37 KUBS BC
Black Amber Templeogue 82-96 Pyrobel Killester
Griffith Swords Thunder 91-66 Eanna
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division 1:
LYIT Donegal 84-101 Ulster University Elks
LIT Celtics 93-105 St Paul’s Killarney
BFG Neptune 89-52 EJ Sligo All-Stars
Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin 67-65 Fr Mathews
Ulster University Elks 80-73 Dublin Lions
Titans 77-86 Ballincollig
Detailed results
Basketball Ireland Men's Super League
Belfast Star 109-64 Maree
Top scorers Belfast Star: Ryan Oliver 26, Conor Quinn 21, Clement Kulinicz 18
Top scorers Maree: Watkins Williams 22, Eoin Rockall 15, Padraig Burke 14
Half time score: Belfast Star 55-33 Maree
Moycullen 78-85 DCU Saints
Top scorers Moycullen: Paul Freeman 15, James Loughnane 13, Brandon McGuire 11
Top scorers DCU Saints: Dee Proby 38, Tariq Guebaili 13, Martin Neary 12
Half time score: Moycullen 31-47 DCU Saints
Basketball Ireland Men's Division One
Titans 77-86 Ballincollig
Top scorers Titans: Keegan Ryan 26, Toms Fabriciuss 18, Rando Kozlov 11
Top scorers Ballincollig: Pere Tres 36, Ciaran O Sullivan 23, Colin Murray 9
Half time score: Titans 40-55 Ballincollig
Basketball Ireland Fixtures – September 30th to October 1st
Saturday 30th September 2017
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Pyrobel Killester v Moycullen, IWA-Clontarf, 18:00;
Eanna v Black Amber Templeogue, Colaiste Eanna, 19:00;
DCU Saints v Belfast Star, DCU Complex, 19:00;
Maree v Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, CC-Oranmore, 19:45;
KUBS BC v UCD Marian, Greendale, 20:00;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League
IT Carlow Basketball v NUIG Mystics, Barrow Centre, IT Carlow
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division 1:
Paris Texas Kilkenny v LYIT Donegal, O Loughlin Gaels Gym, 18:00;
Dublin Lions v LIT Celtics, Colaiste Bhride-Clondalkin, 18:30;
Keanes Supervalu Killorglin v IT Carlow Basketball, Killorglin Sports Centre, 19:15;
St Pauls Killarney v BFG Neptune, Killarney Sports Centre, 19:30;
EJ Sligo All-Stars v Portlaoise Panthers, Mercy College, 19:30;
Sunday 1st October 2017
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
UCC Demons v Griffith Swords Thunder, Mardyke Arena, 15:00;
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division 1:
Ulster University Elks v Titans, Ulster University Elks, 15:00;
BFG Neptune v Paris Texas Kilkenny, Neptune Stadium, 15:00;
