The O’Sullivan family from Co. Cork were the stars of the show in an action-packed weekend of basketball, with brothers Ciaran and Adrian O’Sullivan claiming buzzer beaters for their teams Ballincollig and UCC Demons to win their respective games, while their father Francis O’Sullivan coached Singleton SuperValue Brunell to a memorable 78-75 point win over DCU Mercy.
The Demons’ win on Sunday afternoon saw Adrian score a buzzer beater against Éanna in the dying seconds of the game to secure a one-point victory over their Dublin rivals and ensure their spot in the top six remains intact as the battle of the Men’s Super League table continues.
Indeed both Super Leagues and the Men’s Division One are set for thrilling finales to the season, with a number of teams still in the running to claim the regular season title.
Marian stormed back from last weekend’s loss to Pyrobel Killester in style, winning out in convincing fashion (72-46) against Dublin neighbours Éanna on Thursday evening, before playing out a cracking game of basketball against Tralee in a top of the table clash on Saturday evening. Huge displays on the night from Tralee’s Goran Pantovic and Trae Pemberton were just not enough in the face of sharp shooting from UCD’s Dan James, Barry Drumm and Conor Meany, which saw them eke out an 86-83 point win in the closing minute.
“It was a really, really difficult game,” UCD’s Ioannis Liapakis said afterwards. “Unfortunately we didn’t have much time to prepare the team for it as we had a game Thursday, but the main thing we needed to remember was what happened last year, where we were 25 points ahead and we lost the game.
“It doesn’t matter if you play 39 minutes really well, you have to play 40 minutes really well and that’s what happened today. They played well, we played well and it was great game for everybody to watch, but in the end, I think we wanted it a little bit more.
“There is no safety net unfortunately, we lost that a few weeks ago. Now, every loss counts. We’re still really far away from winning the league so we have to go step by step. The only thing we care about right now is the next practice on Monday.”
Griffith College Swords Thunder meanwhile maintained their second place spot on the table with a 20-point victory over Moycullen at the ALSAA on Saturday evening, while sheer grit won out for Black Amber Templeogue to see them win out 74-70 against Belfast Star. They are now in fifth place by point difference on the table, with Pyrobel Killester just above them in fourth after winning out 79-72 over Maree in Galway.
Over in the Women’s Super League meanwhile, Courtyard Liffey Celtics remain at the top of the table after a convincing win over Maxol WIT Wildcats on Saturday evening. Top scoring from Devon Brookshire, Aine O’Connor and Erin Bracken saw Celtics in control by half time, and they powered out to win out by 73-47 in the end. They now face a tough test next Saturday evening at home when they welcome Ambassador UCC Glanmire.
Singleton SuperValu Brunell caused upset in Cork on Sunday meanwhile, running out 78-75 point winners over DCU Mercy at Parochial Hall.
Speaking afterwards, head coach Francis O’Sullivan said:
“That was an exciting win for us, we had a lot of good performances and we’re back on track now. We fell asleep in the second quarter and they outscored us 24-10. We won the fourth quarter and held onto that one-point lead and then picked up a basket just at the end to make it three.
“It’s all up for grabs on who is going to make the top four in the Women’s league – it’s an exciting time to be involved and we’re happy to be at the other side of it as this time last year we were fighting relegation.”
All eyes were on Portlaoise on Saturday evening for the big midlands derby between rivals Portlaoise Panthers and IT Carlow Basketball. Portlaoise came out on top the last time these two sides met down in Carlow, but revenge was sweet for Martin Conroy’s charges this time around as Carlow won out 70-59. Pyrobel Killester also had a big win on Saturday evening, running out 95-38 point winners over NUIG Mystics in Clontarf.
The Men’s Division One is teeing up for a big finale as well, with a huge three-pointer from Ciaran O’Sullivan in the closing seconds of the game on Saturday evening saw Ballincollig come back from a 20-point deficit to win out 77-76 against Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin seeing a three-way tie at the top between Ballincollig, Killorglin and Neptune. Killorglin will face Neptune next Saturday evening at home before the big Cork clash between Ballincollig and Neptune the week after.
Basketball Ireland Men's Super League
Griffith College Swords Thunder 81-61 Moycullen
Top scorers Griffith College Swords Thunder: Travis Black 19, Conroy Baltimore 16, Guevara del Torre 14
Top scorers Moycullen: Brandon Maguire 23, Kyle Cunningham 12, James Loughnane 11
Half time score: Griffith College Swords Thunder 40-36 Moycullen
Maree 72-79 Pyrobel Killester
Top scorers Maree: John Burke 16, Kenneth Hansberry 12, Eoin Rockall 11, Stephen Commins 11
Top scorers Pyrobel Killester: Royce Williams 24, Luis Filiberto Garcia Hoyos 23, Paddy Sullivan 12
Half time score: Maree 39-35 Pyrobel Killester
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League
Pyrobel Killester 95-38 NUIG Mystics
Top scorers Pyrobel Killester: Killester Chantell Alford 17, Rebecca Nagle 16, Aisling McCann 14
Top scorers NUIG Mystics: AineMcDonagh 13, Deirdre O Shea 8, Deja Bullock 8
Half time score: Pyrobel Killester 48-12 NUIG Mystics
Basketball Ireland Men's Division One
GameFootage.net Titans 85-95 EJ Sligo All-Stars
Top scorers GameFootage.net Titans: Keegan Ryan 40, Emmanuel Saah 20, Eoin Coughlan 10
Top scorers EJ Sligo All-Stars: Eric Kittel 25, Tobias Brockman 21, Phillip Hamilton 16
Half time score: GameFootage.net Titans 47-55 EJ Sligo All-Stars
Fixtures: 23-25th February
Friday 23rd February 2018
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Belfast Star v UCD Marian, Methodist College, 20:00;
Saturday 24th February 2018
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Pyrobel Killester v UCC Demons, IWA-Clontarf, 18:00;
DCU Saints v Maree, St Vincent’s, 19:00;
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors v Griffith College Swords Thunder, Tralee Sports Complex, 20:00;
KUBS v Eanna, Carroll Arena, Greendale, 20:00;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
Courtyard Liffey Celtics v Ambassador UCC Glanmire, Leixlip Amenities Centre, 18:30;
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
LYIT Donegal v GameFootage.net Titans, LYIT, 16:00;
LIT Celtics v Paris Texas Kilkenny, SportsHub Limerick IT, 18:00;
Dublin Lions v Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney, Colaiste Bride, 18:30;
Portlaoise Panthers v Ballincollig, St Mary’s Sports Hall, 19:00;
Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin v Neptune, Killorglin Sports Centre, 19:15;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One:
Meteors v UL Huskies, Colaiste Iosagain, 16:00;
Fr Mathews v Griffith College Swords Thunder, Colaiste Chriost Ri, 17:45;
Sunday 25th February 2018
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Moycullen v Black Amber Templeogue, NUIG Galway, 15:00;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
NUIG Mystics v IT Carlow Basketball, NUIG, 12:00;
Singleton SuperValu Brunell v Maxol WIT Wildcats, Parochial Hall, 14:45;
DCU Mercy v Portlaoise Panthers, DCU Complex, 15:30;
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
Ulster University Elks v Fr Mathews, UUJ, 12:45;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One:
Ulster University Elks v Fabplus North West, UUJ, 15:00;
