This weekend lived up to, and indeed, exceeded all expectations, as control at the top of the Men’s Super League changed hands on Saturday evening.
UCD Marian, who had reigned supreme at the top for the last number of weeks, were moved off their perch on Saturday evening, following a 79-73 loss at the hands of Pyrobel Killester.
“We’re delighted to get over the line it’s not easy, Marian have been the frontrunners in the league for so long and they’re a good team," said Killester's Brian O'Malley. "They got one over us in the Cup semi-finals, and we’re delighted to get the victory after a somewhat disappointing performance in Tralee last weekend.
"There is great character in our team and the guys knew they hadn’t done as well as they should have by half time, but in the third quarter we got a couple of stops and a couple of offensive rebounds and we found ourselves on top – they came back and brought it back very close with a few minutes to go, thankfully we made a basket or two and a few free throws to seal the win."
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors meanwhile have moved to the top of the table, after a Kieran Donaghy inspired finish saw them pip Éanna 78-74. A nail-biting finale to the game saw Donaghy score to edge Tralee ahead 75-71, but this was responded to by baskets from Conor White and Mylynue Reeves of Éanna to tie the game level once more. Two trips to the free throw line for Donaghy as the clock ticked down saw him bag three out of four shots, and it was enough to see them take the win and prime position on the table.
Revenge was sweet for Griffith College Swords Thunder meanwhile as they dished up an 85-56 point victory over near neighbours DCU Saints on Saturday evening to push them into second place on the table. Saints had beaten Swords twice this season – once in the Cup and once in the League – so Thunder were delighted to get one back at a key stage of the season.
Black Amber Templeogue meanwhile were ran extremely close by Maree down in Galway, with this year’s Cup champions trailing by one (62-61) going into the last, but good scoring from Mike Bonaparte and Neil Randolph pushed them over the line to win 90-82 in the end. Elsewhere, Moycullen won out 87-71 over KUBS, while the battle for sixth position played out in Cork on Sunday, with UCC Demons overcoming Belfast Star.
In the Women’s Super League meanwhile, Ambassador UCC Glanmire laid down a big statement on Sunday, when they overcame bottom of the table NUIG Mystics 107-45 in their clash at the Mardyke. Pyrobel Killester put in a strong display down in Portlaoise on Saturday evening to run out winners over the Panthers, while DCU Mercy had the better of IT Carlow Basketball in the Barrow Centre on Sunday.
Courtyard Liffey Celtics meanwhile remain at the top of the table after a solid 87-64 point win over Singleton SuperValu Brunell in Cork on Sunday afternoon.
“I'm delighted to come down here and get a win, it’s never easy to win down here,” admitted Celtics' head coach, Mark Byrne. “Credit to the girls, they played hard for four quarters and put in a good performance.
“If we move the basketball well and create opportunities and are unselfish like we were today, it's great. I’m delighted with our defence too, so all-in-all, I'm happy with that one.”
Marble City Hawks meanwhile will be spending the 2018/19 season in the Women’s Super League after they won out the Women’s Division One Regular Season on Saturday afternoon with a 67-58 point win over second place UL Huskies. The win ensured their promotion to the Super League for next season and head coach, Julian O’Keeffe was thrilled with the performance.
“We’re over the moon, it’s great. The girls were fantastic today I think we played really well when we needed to, and they came out so strong in the third quarter when we needed it. It hasn’t really sunk in yet what we’ve done. I can finally relax now though and we’re really looking forward to the challenge of the Super League!”
Basketball Ireland Results: February 10-11th 2018
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Pyrobel Killester 79-73 UCD Marian
DCU Saints 56-85 Griffith College Swords Thunder
Eanna 74-78 Garvey’s Tralee Warriors
Maree 82-90 Black Amber Templeogue
KUBS BC 71-87 Moycullen
UCC Demons 83-66 Belfast Star
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
Portlaoise Panthers 52-63 Pyrobel Killester
Ambassador UCC Glanmire 107-45 NUIG Mystics
Singleton SuperValu Brunell 64-87 Courtyard Liffey Celtics
IT Carlow Basketball 61-86 DCU Mercy
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
Ballincollig 83-67 IT Carlow Basketball
Dublin Lions 120-83 GameFootage.net Titans
EJ Sligo All-Stars 75-81 Scotts Lakers St Pauls Killarney
Portlaoise Panthers 60-73 Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin
Neptune 96-66 Ulster University Elks
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One:
Fabplus North West 72-67 Griffith College Swords Thunder
Marble City Hawks 67-58 UL Huskies
Fr Mathews 67-56 Ulster University Elks
Basketball Ireland Detailed Results: February 10-11th 2018
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Maree 82-90 Black Amber Templeogue
Top scorers Maree: Kenneth Hansberry 21, Stephen Commins 19, Eoin Rockall 15
Top scorers Black Amber Templeogue: Michael Bonaparte 23, Neil Randolph 17, Jason Killeen 16, Luke Thompson 16
Maree 39-45 Black Amber Templeogue
KUBS 71-87 Moycullen
Top scorers KUBS: Gary Barron 23, Eoin Chubb 9, Kevin O Hanlon 9
Top scorers Moycullen: Brandon McGuire 32, Paul Freeman 13, Patrick Lyons 8
Half time score: KUBS 40-41 Moycullen
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
Ambassador UCC Glanmire 107-45 NUIG Mystics
Top scorers Ambassador UCC Glanmire: Claire Rockall 21, Ashley Prim 18, Miriam Byrne 13
Top scorers NUIG Mysitcs: Dayna Finn 11, Deirdre O Shea 10, Deja Bullock 10
Half time score: Ambassador UCC Glanmire 53-26 NUIG Mystics
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
Dublin Lions 120-83 GameFootage.net Titans
Top scorers Dublin Lions: MuhamedSabic 33, Igor Markiewicz 21, ChrisMcNairney 19
Top scorers GameFootage.net Titans: Keegan Ryan 41, Jan Stec 14, Eoin Coughlan 13
Halt time score: Dublin Lions 62-32 GameFootage.net Titans
Basketball Ireland Fixtures: February 15-18th
Thursday 15th February 2018
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Eanna BC v UCD Marian, Colaiste Eanna, 20:30;
Saturday 17th February 2018
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Griffith College Swords Thunder v Moycullen, ALSAA-Dublin, 17:00;
UCD Marian v Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, UCD, 19:00;
Maree v Pyrobel Killester, Calasanctius College, Oranmore, 19:45;
Black Amber Templeogue v Belfast Star, Oblate Hall Inchicore, 20:00;
KUBS BC v DCU Saints, Greendale, 20:00;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
Portlaoise Panthers v IT Carlow Basketball, St Mary’s Hall, 18:00;
Pyrobel Killester v NUIG Mystics, IWA-Clontarf, 18:00;
Maxol WIT Wildcats v Courtyard Liffey Celtics, Mercy Gym, 19:00;
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
Ballincollig v Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin, Ballincollig CS, 16:00;
Fr Mathews v Portlaoise Panthers, Colaiste Chriost Ri, 19:15;
Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney v LYIT Donegal, Killarney Sports Centre, 19:30;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One:
UL Huskies v Fr Mathews, PESS Building-UL, 17:00;
Griffith College Swords Thunder v Meteors, ALSAA-Dublin, 19:00;
Sunday 18th February 2018
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
UCC Demons v Eanna, Mardyke Arena, 15:00;
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
Ulster University Elks v IT Carlow Basketball, Ulster University Elks, 15:00;
Paris Texas Kilkenny v Dublin Lions, O Loughlins GAA, 15:00;
LIT Celtics v LYIT Donegal, SportsHub Limerick IT, 15:00;
GameFootage.net Titans v EJ Sligo All-Stars, The Jes, 15:30;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
Singleton SuperValu Brunell v DCU Mercy, Parochial Hall, 14:45;
