Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU and Belfast Star sit atop their respective conferences after maintaining an unbeaten start to the InsureMyVan.ie Super League with two narrow wins.
The defending champions had to be teak tough down the stretch to eke out a 91-84 road win against UCC Demons in a hotly contested Cork derby at the Mardyke Arena on Friday night. Player/Head Coach Ciaran O’Sullivan was delighted to be back under the Friday night lights: “Friday night’s game was great to be involved in. The atmosphere was electric, and it would be great to see Friday night games around the country televised to promote the game moving forward.
UCC Demons threw a lot at us throughout the game. Their length and athleticism are tough to compete with, and ultimately, the game could have gone either way in the last 2 minutes. Credit to our guys for keeping composure down the stretch and to our pros for executing some huge offensive plays when we needed them most.”
Belfast Star cemented their place at the head of the North Conference thanks to a 31-point haul for Irish international Conor Quinn in their 86-62 win over Pyrobel Killester. The hosts trailed by 4 points with less than eight minutes remaining in the final quarter, needing a late flurry to maintain a 100% record on home court.
Their closest rivals Ulster University hit their first stumbling block to life in the top flight. Griffith College Éanna racked up a weekend-high 100 points to inflict a 100-79 defeat on Ryan McCormick’s side and move into second place in the North Conference standings themselves.
Energywise Ireland Neptune got their first win of the season with an 88-80 home win against Maigh Cuilinn, Jonathan Lawton (NEP) and Grant Olsson (MAI) with 23 and 29 points respectively.
Energywise Ireland Neptune Head Coach, Colin O’Reilly was very happy with the win. “Really pleased with the effort and commitment from the lads. first half performance was a very high level with the ball staying hot on offense and defensively we were able to force them into tough mid-range shots while controlling our defensive glass. Second half Moycullen dominated the physical battle and took us out of our rhythm which for us to grow was great. We got to see how we react with a bit of adversity and closed out the game calmly.”
Elsewhere, Maree got their second win of the season with a 74-64 road win against Flexachem KCYMS and The last game of the weekend seen a very tight encounter at Mercy College with EJ Sligo All-Stars edging out Bright St. Vincent’s by 6 points in a 97-91 home win, Kevin Anywanwu racked up a whopping 39 points in the game, but it wasn’t quite enough to win the game for Bright St. Vincent’s.
MissQuote.ie Super League
Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell and FloMAX Liffey Celtics continue to set the pace atop the MissQuote.ie Super League table.
FloMAX Liffey Celtics secured a solid 84-75 road win over DCU Mercy at the DCU Arena and Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell had 29 points to spare in a 97-68 win over Ulster University.
Third placed SETU Waterford Wildcats returned to winning ways in an 83-70 win over Catalyst Fr.Mathews. Jazmine Massengill was in excellent form with 34 points for Tommy O’Mahony’s side.
The head coach was very pleased with the win “Playing against a quality side like Mathews I was really happy with our win, I thought we played really well to get over the line, on defence we tuned in to what they were doing well and on offence I thought we took a lot of the right options. We have week off now but understand we have a lot of tough games coming up which we need to put some solid work in practice to be ready for”.
In one of the most highly anticipated fixtures of the weekend, The Address UCC Glanmire narrowly beat Pyrobel Killester 77-71 at the Mardyke Arena.
The Address UCC Glanmire Head Coach, Mark Scannell was pleased with the win “I’m very happy to get the win in a good, tough game of basketball today. The girls really prepared well this week and we always felt if we could keep them in the 70’s we had a chance. I’m delighted that the whole team made very important contributions today. Back to the drawing board again this week to get ready for another tough game.”
The weekend’s other fixture saw Trinity Meteors move off the foot of the table by beating newly promoted Portlaoise Panthers 92-69 in a difficult encounter for the away side.
Results
InsureMyVan.ie Super League
Friday 13th October
UCC Demons 84 – 91 Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU
Saturday 14th October
Belfast Star 86-82 Pyrobel Killester
Griffith College Éanna 100-79 Ulster University
Energywise Ireland Neptune 88-80 Maigh Cuilinn
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors 91-80 Templeogue
Flexachem KCYMS 69-74 Maree
EJ Sligo All-Stars 97-91 Bright St. Vincent’s
MissQuote.ie Super League
Saturday 14th October
SETU Waterford Wildcats 83-70 Catalyst Fr. Mathews
Trinity Meteors 92-69 Portlaoise Panthers
Sunday 15th October
The Address UCC Glanmire 77-71 Pyrobel Killester
DCU Mercy 75-84 FloMAX Liffey Celtics
Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell 97-68 Ulster University
InsureMyVan.ie Division One
Saturday 14th October
Team Northwest 72-73 SETU Waterford Vikings
Joels Dublin Lions 83-92 Kavanagh’s Portlaoise Panthers
Moy Tolka Rovers 74-77 UCD Marian
Scotts Lakers Killarney 88-82 Titans BC
Mater Private Malahide 66-96 Drogheda Wolves
Limerick Sport Eagles 88-84 Limerick Celtics
Sunday 15th October
SETU Carlow 120-73 Killarney Cougars
MissQuote.ie Division One
Saturday 14th October
Phoenix Rockets 62-79 Templeogue
Moy Tolka Rovers 69-75 St Pauls Killarney
Limerick Sport Huskies 72-59 Limerick Celtics
Oblate Dynamos 46-59 iSecure Swords Thunder
Sunday 15th October
SETU Carlow 74-41 Marble City Hawks
Abbey Seals Dublin Lions 60-71 McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles
Fixtures
MissQuote.ie Super League
Saturday 21st October
University of Galway Mystics v Pyrobel Killester, Kingfisher Sports Arena, 1600
Ulster University v Trinity Meteors, Jordanstown Sports Village, 1715
FloMAX Liffey Celtics v The Address UCC Glanmire, Leixlip Amenities, 1900
Sunday 22nd October
Catalyst Fr. Mathew’s v Portlaoise Panthers, Fr. Mathew’s Arena, 1400
Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell v DCU Mercy, Gurranabraher Credit Union Arena, 1445
InsureMyVan.ie Division One
Saturday 21st October
Team Northwest v Joels Dublin Lions, Foyle Arena, 1400
Titans BC v Limerick Celtics, Knocknacarra Community Centre, 1700
UCD Marian v Scotts Lakers Killarney, UCD Sports Centre, 1900
SETU Waterford Vikings v SETU Carlow, SETU College Hall, 1900
Killarney Cougars v Limerick Sport Eagles, Presentation Gym, 1900
Drogheda Wolves v Moy Tolka Rovers, Ballymakenny College, 1930
Kavanagh’s Portlaoise Panthers v Mater Private Malahide, St. Mary’s Hall, 2000
MissQuote.ie Division One
Saturday 21st October
Phoenix Rockets v Abbey Seals Dublin Lions, Lisburn Racquets Club, 1500
McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles v iSecure Swords Thunder, Virginia Show Centre, 1700
Limerick Sport Huskies v St. Paul’s Killarney, UL Arena, 1700
Marble City Hawks v Moy Tolka Rovers, O’Loughlin Gaels GAA Club, 1900
Templeogue v Oblate Dynamos, National Basketball Arena, 1930
Sunday 22nd October
SETU Carlow v Limerick Celtics, Barrow Centre, 1230
