There were thrills, spills and upsets galore at the weekend as the opening round of the Hula Hoops National Cup got underway, dishing up some spectacular results across the board.
One result in particular caught the attention of basketball fans nationwide, as underdogs DCU Saints caused the upset of the weekend when they overcame reigning Cup champions Griffith College Swords Thunder in thrilling fashion, 75-70.
“It was a sweet win to get,” admitted DCU Saints head coach, Joey Boylan. “It feels very good to get the win, especially in the Cup. It was always going to be a tough game, being up against Swords and especially in their place, but we never let them get a run on us.”
Indeed, Swords, who had lost just one game so far this season, were left on the back foot from early on as Joey Boylan’s charges drove into a 38-42 point half time lead, with Men’s Super League September Player of the Month, Dee Proby, proving to be a massive thorn in the side of the Swords defence, top scoring with 30 points.
Elsewhere, Black Amber Templeogue held firm to run out 90-81 point winners over Belfast Star, with a phenomenal display from Lorcan Murphy, which saw him net 30 points for the Dubliners despite the best efforts of Star’s Conor Quinn and Keelan Cairns.
“We made hard work of it,” admitted Templeogue’s Mark Keenan afterwards. “The second half was a tight affair, it came right down to the last few minutes but I’m just happy we closed it out.”
UCC Demons eased passed KUBS in style on Saturday evening at Greendale, while Moycullen did just enough to scrape past a determined Maree in the all Galway battle on Sunday afternoon.
There was also Cup action in the Men’s Division One league, with the battle for the President’s Cup producing some big results. Cup holders Neptune got out of jail just in time against IT Carlow, managing to hold their nerve in the dying seconds to edge into the second round.
Elsewhere, Paris Texas Kilkenny shocked Ulster University Elks with a big win at home, while Cup runners-up from last season, Ej Sligo All Stars bowed out at the hands of Portlaoise Panthers.
In the Women’s Super League meanwhile, Courtyard Liffey Celtics and Singleton SuperValu Brunell dished up one of the games of the weekend, with just a point separating the sides at the final buzzer, and the Kildare team relieved to take the win.
“It was a great win. We didn’t get off to the best start – it took us at least two quarters to figure out their strengths,” said Celtics head coach, Mark Byrne. “Once we did that, we played great defence in the second half. They’re a really tough team, smart and well-coached, so any win against them, you’ve got to be happy with.”
Elsewhere, Pyrobel Killester bagged their first win of the season when they overcame Portlaoise Panthers at home on Saturday evening, while NUIG Mystics had to settle for second best in a close tie with Ambassador UCC Glanmire. Mark Ingle’s charges at DCU Mercy meanwhile made it two from two with a solid win over IT Carlow Basketball on Sunday afternoon.
Hula Hoops Men’s Pat Duffy National Cup (Round 1 – Knock out)
Griffith College Swords Thunder 70-75 DCU Saints
Black Amber Templeogue 90-81 Belfast Star
KUBS 47-101 UCC Demons
Moycullen 79-71 Maree
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League
UCD Marian 66-91 Pyrobel Killester
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
NUIG Mystics 70-76 Ambassador UCC Glanmire
Pyrobel Killester 78-64 Portlaoise Panthers
Courtyard Liffey Celtics 66-65 Singleton SuperValu Brunell
DCU Mercy 74-69 IT Carlow Basketball
Hula Hoops Men’s Presidents Cup (Round 1 – Knock out)
LYIT Donegal 82-84 Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin
IT Carlow Basketball 83-89 Neptune
Ballincollig 20-0 Dublin Lions
Fr Mathews 99-76 LIT Celtics
Paris Texas Kilkenny 77-75 Ulster University Elks
Portlaoise Panthers 70-64 Ej Sligo All Stars
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division 1:
Marble City Hawks 55-53 Meteors
Fabplus North West 52-74 Fr Mathews
Ulster University Elks 72-78 Griffith College Swords Thunder
Basketball Ireland Detailed Results - October 21st-23rd
Basketball Ireland Men’s Hula Hoops Cup (Pat Duffy Cup)
Moycullen 79-71 Maree – MOYCULLEN ADVANCE
Top scorers Moycullen: Cian Nihill 22, Brandon McGuire 19, Patrick Lyons 15
Top scorers Maree: Eoin Rockall 15, Watkins Williams 13, Kenneth Hansberry 11
Half time score: Moycullen 42-34 Maree
HULA HOOPS NATIONAL CUP FIXTURES
Hula Hoops National Cup quarter-finals (Pat Duffy Cup)
To be played weekend of December 1-3rd with first named having home advantage.
Moycullen v Pyrobel Killester
Black Amber Templeogue v Éanna
UCC Demons v Garvey’s Tralee Warriors
DCU Saints v UCD Marian
Hula Hoops President’s Cup quarter-finals
To be played weekend of December 1-3rd with first named having home advantage.
Fr Mathews v Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney
Ballincollig v Portlaoise Panthers
Neptune v Titans
Paris Texas Kilkenny v Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
NUIG Mystics 70-76 Ambassador UCC Glanmire
Top scorers NUIG Mystics: Kiera Gaines 23, Dayna Finn 15, Aine McDonagh 12
Top scorers Ambassador UCC Glanmire: Claire Rockall 19, Grainne Dwyer 13, Alexis Eckles 10
Half time score: NUIG Mystics 35-46 Ambassador UCC Glanmire
Basketball Ireland Fixtures: October 28th-30th
Saturday 28th October 2017
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
UCD Marian v DCU Saints, UCD, 19:00;
KUBS BC v Black Amber Templeogue, Greendale, 19:00;
Maree v Griffith College Swords Thunder, CC-Oranmore, 19:45;
Pyrobel Killester v Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, IWA-Clontarf, 20:00;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
Pyrobel Killester v IT Carlow Basketball, IWA-Clontarf, 18:00;
Maxol WIT Wildcats v NUIG Mystics, Mercy Gym, 19:00;
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division 1:
IT Carlow Basketball v Ballincollig, Barrow Centre-IT Carlow, 12:30;
LYIT Donegal v Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney, Bishops Field, 15:00;
LIT Celtics v Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin, SportsHub Limerick IT, 18:00;
Neptune v Portlaoise Panthers, Neptune Stadium, 19:00;
EJ Sligo All-Stars v Titans, Mercy College, 19:30;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division 1:
UL Huskies v Marble City Hawks, PESS Building-UL-Limerick, 17:00;
Griffith College Swords Thunder v Fabplus North West, ALSAA-Dublin, 18:00;
Sunday 29th October 2017
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Belfast Star v UCC Demons, Methodist College, 15:00;
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
Ambassador UCC Glanmire v Portlaoise Panthers, Mardyke Arena, 13:00;
DCU Mercy v Courtyard Liffey Celtics, DCU Complex, 15:30;
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division 1:
Ballincollig v Fr Mathews, Ballincollig CS, 13:00;
LYIT Donegal v EJ Sligo All-Stars, Bishops Field Sports Centre, 15:00;
Ulster University Elks v Paris Texas Kilkenny, Ulster University Elks, 15:00;
Portlaoise Panthers v LIT Celtics, St Marys Sports Hall, 15:00;
Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin v Dublin Lions, Killorglin Sports Centre, 15:00;
Titans v IT Carlow Basketball, The Jes, 15:30;
Monday 30th October 2017
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Griffith College Swords Thunder v DCU Saints, ALSAA-Dublin, 15:00;
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors v Eanna, Tralee, 15:00;
Moycullen v KUBS BC, NUIG Galway, 15:00;
Black Amber Templeogue v Maree, Oblate Hall Inchicore, 15:30;
