Three big Super League games rounded off the decade in Irish basketball this weekend, as Maree, Moycullen and DCU Saints all finished 2019 with a bang on Saturday evening.
Down in Cork, it took overtime to separate Coughlan C&S Neptune and Maree, with Maree picking up the win in the end, 92-99 to deliver Neptune their second overtime loss in as many games. The game was close throughout with neither team able to hold a comfortable lead as they matched each other score for score. Maree narrowly led 40-45 at the half, thanks to well-balanced scoring from Oriol Balsells Plaza, Kenneth Hansberry and Paul Freeman. The battle continued in the second half though, with Lehmon Colbert's scoring and inside presence proving instrumental for the hosts in the fourth quarter. Cian Heaphy also caused havoc for the Maree defence down the stretch and was on hand to level the game at the death at 81 points apiece and send it to overtime. It remained neck-in-neck in overtime but in the end, Balsells Plaza and Darin Johnson had the magic touch for the visitors in the dying moments of the game to win out 92-99 and make it four straight wins for Maree going into the New Year.
Maree head coach Mike Lynch stated: “Tonight was a very important win for us, especially on the road against a team like Neptune. Post-Christmas games are always tricky to call, but we trained over the last two weeks and it certainly paid off for us tonight. We knew going into the game that Neptune have developed a strong inside game and that they are one of the quickest in transition. Defensively, we worked very hard and this paid off for us. Cian Heaphy made things difficult. We have had a lot of close games this season, but we knew we had the ability to see the game out once we stuck to our game plan, and we able to stay out of foul trouble. This was our fourth win in a row and is exactly the start we needed for the second half of the season.”
Fellow Galway side Moycullen were also celebrating the end of 2019 in style as they managed to hold out to get a big 69-60 home win over Pyrobel Killester Saturday evening. The home side kept Killester at arm’s length in the first half, 40-31, thanks to good scoring from Grant Olsson and Dylan Cunningham. Killester were not going down without a fight though, and kept battling right to the end. John Behan was to the fore for the Dublin side, but despite their best efforts, Moycullen held firm and won by nine in the end.
Speaking afterwards, head coach John Cunningham said: “I'm thrilled with the win. With the way the games fell, we had to ask for some big sacrifices over Christmas. Thankfully, the guys got their reward today. I feel a bit for Brian and Killester as they have had a rough run of injuries and they battled to the end, adding to the grey hairs that have been appearing for me over the last few years! I must give credit to my guys though. We played some excellent basketball at both ends in the first half and, despite struggling at the offensive end as the game wore on, our defence never let up and was the difference in the end. Any win in this league is a big win and, despite our record, we feel we can compete every night and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
DCU Saints saw off the test of Abbey Seals Dublin Lions in their Dublin derby on Saturday evening in Clondalkin, with a 70-78 win. Saints started the better of the two teams thanks to scoring from Mike Bonaparte and Kevin Lacey. Lions rallied back, with Jarrett Gray and Finn Hughes finding their range from behind the arc and pushed into the lead in the second half. Saints' kept their cool though and back-to-back three pointers from Lacey, coupled with the composure of Bonaparte from the free throw line, helped DCU earn some breathing space to secure the away win.
Speaking afterwards, Bonaparte said: ”I must tip my hat to Dublin Lions, they did excellent. Lions didn’t give up, I thought they were going to call it quits when we gained a seven-point lead, but they adjusted their defence. Lions went up but we called a timeout to help slow them down, and after that we played the game at our pace and the experience showed.”
Over in the Men’s Division One meanwhile, Tradehouse Central Ballincollig finish 2019 still unbeaten at the top of the Men’s Division One table thanks to a 64-85 point win over Portlaoise Panthers in Portlaoise on Sunday afternoon. Andre Nation and Ciaran O’Sullivan led the charge for the visitors as they drove into a big 14-31 point lead at the end of the first quarter, and continued to dominate at the half, leading 24-47. Good displays from Mantas Vilimas and Sean Condon of Portlaoise just wasn’t enough in the face of a clinical Ballincollig side, who head into 2020 with a perfect 13-0 record.
Basketball Ireland
Results: December 28-29th
Basketball Ireland
Men’s Super League:
Coughlan CandS
Neptune 92-99 Maree (after overtime)
Abbey Seals Dublin Lions 70-78 DCU Saints
Moycullen 69-60 Pyrobel Killester
Detailed Results
Coughlan CandS
Neptune 92-99 Maree (after overtime)
Top scorers Coughlan CandS Neptune: Lehmon Colbert 27, Cian
Heaphy 21, Nil Sabata 11
Top scorers Maree: Oriol Balsells Plaza 17, Kenneth
Hansberry 17, Paul Freeman 16
Half time score: Coughlan CandS Neptune 40-45 Maree
Full time score: Coughlan CandS Neptune 81-81 Maree
Moycullen 69-60
Pyrobel Killester
Top scorers Moycullen: Grant Olsson 15, Dylan Cunningham 14,
Patrick Lyons 13
Top scorers Pyrobel Killester: John Behan 15, Tomas
Fernandez 12, Kason Harrell 11
Half time score: Moycullen 40-31 Pyrobel Killester
Basketball Ireland
Fixtures: January 4-5th, 2020
Saturday 4th January
2020
Basketball Ireland
Men’s Super League:
Abbey Seals Dublin Lions v Griffith College Templeogue,
Colaiste Bride, 17:30;
Belfast Star v Pyrobel Killester, De La Salle, 18:30;
DCU Saints v Moycullen, St Vincents SS-Glasnevin, 19:00;
UCD Marian v Coughlan CandS Neptune, UCD, 19:00;
Garveys Tralee Warriors v DBS Eanna, Tralee Sports Complex,
19:30;
Maree v Keanes Supervalu Killorglin, Calsanctius College, 20:00;
Basketball Ireland
Women’s Super League:
Maree v Singleton SuperValu Brunell, Calasanctius
College-Galway, 17:00;
Marble City Hawks v DCU Mercy, O Loughlins GAA, 17:00;
Fr Mathews v Maxol WIT Wildcats, Fr Mathews Arena, 17:00;
Pyrobel Killester v Leixlip Amenities Liffey Celtics, IWA
Clontarf, 19:00;
Basketball Ireland
Men’s Division One:
Ulster University v IT Carlow Basketball, UUJ, 15:00;
Limerick Sports Eagles v McGowans Tolka Rovers, UL
Arena-Limerick, 19:00;
Portlaoise Panthers v Waterford Vikings, St Marys Sports
Hall, 19:00;
Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney v Tradehouse Central
Ballincollig, St Pauls Killarney, 19:30;
Fr Mathews v LYIT Donegal, Fr Mathews Arena, 19:45;
Basketball Ireland
Women’s Division One:
Trinity Meteors v Phoenix Rockets, Trinity, 16:00;
NUIG Mystics v Fabplus North West, Ballinfoile CC, 16:30;
UL Huskies v Tipperary Knights, UL Arena-Limerick, 17:00;
Ulster University v Portlaoise Panthers, UUJ, 17:00;
Swords Thunder v Team Tom McCarthys St Marys, ALSAA-Dublin,
19:00;
Sunday 5th January
2020
Basketball Ireland
Women’s Super League:
IT Carlow Basketball v Ambassador UCC Glanmire, Barrow
Centre-IT Carlow, 14:00;
Basketball Ireland
Women’s Division One:
Ulster University v Griffith College Templeogue, UUJ, 15:00;
Swords Thunder v Phoenix Rockets, ALSAA-Dublin, 15:00;
