Both of last season’s top two teams took a tumble in
the opening round of the 2019/20 Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League this
evening, with reigning champions Garvey’s Tralee Warriors falling to UCD Marian
in the kingdom in a nail-biter, while Griffith College Templeogue lost out to
Belfast Star after overtime in a thriller.
Down in Kerry, a fantastic first half display from
the hosts - who were without the services of Kieran Donaghy - saw Keith Jumper,
Daniel Jokubaitis and Ivan Bogdanovic to the forefront on the scoring to send
them into a 43-30 point half time lead. Marian came back in style though in a
third quarter that was led by Neil Baynes, to edge them into a four-point lead
at the end of the third, 52-56. The drama was far from over though, as the
fourth quarter delivered a nail-biting finish as the lead changed hands on
numerous occasions. With just under a minute to go, a free-throw from UCD's
Barry Drumm saw the score at 72-71 in favour of Tralee. Drumm was on hand again
moments later though to float home the winning score and see Marian win out by
one, 72-73.
Speaking to Alan Cantwell afterwards, Marian coach
Ioannis Liapakis stated: “It was an amazing game. It was a great game for
people to watch and for us to play. Both teams deserved to win the game and we
were the lucky ones. Everything counts now for us, every win is like a Cup
final from now on.”
Belfast Star meanwhile took home a memorable 94-92
point overtime win against Griffith College Templeogue in another cracking
opening round game. Nothing separated the sides throughout, with the teams tied
at 37 apiece at half time. A phenomenal 34-point display from Lorcan Murphy was
one of the main talking points of the game, while Star’s Delaney Blaylock (25
points) and Keelan Cairns (22 points) were also to the forefront. Despite
leading 74-80 with just 1.06 to play in the fourth quarter, Templeogue just
couldn’t hold on to the margin, and Star stormed home some big baskets to tie
the game at 80-80 and force overtime. They truly found their shooting range in
this period; as it began to rain threes in De La Salle and Star held on to win
94-92.
Speaking afterwards, head coach Adrian Fulton said:
“We are obviously thrilled with the win. Templeogue are a super team who beat
us three times last year, so it’s nice to finally be on the right side of the
result for a change. Lorcan Murphy was off the charts tonight in the second
half, and we were down 15 at one stage in the third quarter. The players deserve
great credit, it’s encouraging when they refused to quit when we were on the
ropes.”
Elsewhere around the league, Coughlan C&S
Neptune got their season off to a flying start, running out 88-71 point winners
over Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin. Spaniard Nil Sabata Vila dominated on both
ends of the floor for the storied Cork side, with player/coach Lehmon Colbert
chipping in with 12 points and Roy Downey and Kyle Hosford also impressing.
Pyrobel Killester ground out a hard-earned 75-83 point win on the road to
neighbours, DCU Saints. Killester welcomed Isaac Westbrooks back into the fold
and he made his mark immediately, finishing the game out with 24 points. Good
performances from Farouq Raheem – who was particularly strong on the defensive
end - Tomas Fernandez and Keith Anderson kept Killester’s scoring ticking over
in the face of a hugely determined DCU Saints side, with Mike Bonaparte,
Martins Provizors and Charlie Coombes shining brightest.
The other Dublin derby saw the battle of the
newcomers as Abbey Seals Dublin Lions hosted DBS Éanna in Clondalkin. A massive
first quarter from the visitors set the tone for the game, as they took an
early 9-26 lead into the second to see Lions on the back foot from early on. Standout
performances from Éanna’s Stefan Zecevic, Daniel Heaney and Neil Lynch kept the
scores raining in to help them to a first Super League win. Elsewhere, Maree
came out on top of the big Galway derby meanwhile, running out 58-70 point
winners over Moycullen at NUIG. Darin Johnson led the scoring for Maree,
finishing the game out with 24 points. A strong third quarter from Moycullen
saw them close the gap back to seven points thanks to good work from Connor
Curran, but Maree took back control in the fourth and pushed on to win by 12 in
the end.
Basketball
Ireland Results: September 20/21st, 2019
Basketball
Ireland Men’s Super League
Abbey Seals Dublin Lions 54-76 DBS Éanna
Belfast Star 94-92 Griffith College Templeogue
(after overtime)
DCU Saints 75-83 Pyrobel Killester
Coughlan C and S Neptune 88-71 Keane’s SuperValu
Killorglin
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors 72-73 UCD Marian
Moycullen 58-70 Maree
Basketball
Ireland Men’s Division One
IT Carlow Basketball 98-72 Portlaoise Panthers
Tradehouse Central Ballincollig 82-55 Limerick Sport
Eagles
LYIT Donegal 96-82 Ulster University Elks
Limerick Celtics 92-85 Scott’s Lakers St Paul’s
Killarney
McGowan’s Tolka Rovers 64-73 Fr Mathews
Basketball Ireland Detailed Results
Basketball Ireland Men's Super League
Moycullen 58-70 Maree
Top scorers
Moycullen: Connor Curran 18, Daniel Vila 9, Grant Olsson 8
Top scorers
Maree: Darin Johnson 24, John Burke 9, Kenneth Hansberry 6
Half time score:
Moycullen 22-34 Maree
Basketball Ireland Fixtures: September 27-29th
Friday 27th September 2019
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One:
Limerick Celtics
v NUIG Mystics, Limerick Celtics, 19:30
Saturday 28th September 2019
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
DCU Saints v
Abbey Seals Dublin Lions, DCU Complex, 19:00
DBS Eanna v
Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin, Colaiste Eanna, 19:00
Garvey’s Tralee
Warriors v Belfast Star, Tralee Sports Complex, 19:30
Maree v Coughlan
C and S Neptune, Calasanctius College, 20:00
Pyrobel
Killester v Moycullen, IWA-Clontarf, 20:00
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League
Marble City
Hawks v Fr Mathews, O Loughlins GAA, 17:00
Maree v
Ambassador UCC Glanmire, Calasanctius College-Galway, 17:00
Pyrobel
Killester v Singleton SuperValu Brunell, IWA Clontarf, 18:00
Courtyard Liffey
Celtics v DCU Mercy, Leixlip Amenities Centre, 19:00
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One
Ulster
University Elks v Limerick Celtics, UUJ, 13:30
Tradehouse Central
Ballincollig v Portlaoise Panthers, Ballincollig CS, 16:00
Limerick Sport
Eagles v Waterford Vikings, UL Arena-Limerick, 19:00
Scott’s Lakers
St Paul’s Killarney v IT Carlow Basketball, Killarney SC, 19:30
Fr Mathew’s v EJ
Sligo All-Stars, Fr Mathews Arena, 19:45
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One
Ulster
University Elks v UL Huskies, UUJ, 15:30
Griffith College
Templeogue v Swords Thunder, Nord Anglia International School, 19:00
Portlaoise
Panthers v Team Tom McCarthys St Mary’s, St Mary’s, 19:00
Sunday 29th September 2019
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League
T Carlow
Basketball v Maxol WIT Wildcats, Barrow Centre-IT Carlow, 13:00
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One
Fabplus North
West v UL Huskies, Ballyshannon, 12:00
