Nov 18,2024
The first round of fixtures in another double-game weekend in the Men's Super League served up a shock result as EJ Sligo All-Stars inflicted, on Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, their first loss of the season, Shane O’Meara’s men running out 98-90 winners in Mercy College on Saturday night.
Despite Brandon Mahan hitting a game-high 27 points for the current leaders, who were shorn the services of American point guard, Marquavian Stephens, the hosts held out, with five players in double figures, including Jonathan Brown and Jevonnie Scott on a total of 44.
O’Meara’s men did, indeed, follow up that major scalp with a 90-86 road win against UCD Marian on Sunday afternoon.
Lovre Tvrdic put up a game-high 35 points for UCD, but it was not enough to swing the tie the way of the Dublin outfit, as Jevonnie Scott, again, delivered another big performance for Sligo with 30 points and nine rebounds, while John Carroll and Robert Montgomery chipped in with a further 40, together with 17 wins under the boards.
For the third game in succession, Griffith College Éanna were taken to overtime and prevailed, two of those wins coming against Belfast Star, whom they edged out 103-100 in Newforge Sports Complex.
The defending champions saw the 13-point advantage they enjoyed early in the fourth quarter wiped out, as Belfast drew level at 91-91 only to be pipped in overtime, during which Kristijan Andabaka hit six points.
Belfast did bounce back from that agonising defeat with an 86-65 victory over Templeogue in De la Salle College the following day, five players ending the tie in double digits for the hosts, including Maurice Jones and Maximillian Cooper who each served up 16.
UCC Demons followed up on Saturday’s 102-86 success against the struggling Templeogue in the National Basketball Arena with a 96-82 triumph at home to Maree in Mardyke Arena on Sunday.
Elijah Tillman delivered big again for the Cork side with a huge 37 points and 12 rebounds, while Tobias Christensen’s intensity under the boards also featured heavily in this encounter as he registered 16 rebounds and seven assists against a Maree team, for whom Jarett Haines put up 27 points.
Having ended a run of four straight defeats in the top tier with a 103-72 success against Bright St. Vincent’s in Killorglin Sports Complex on Saturday night, Flexachem KCYMS followed that up with a 77-74 success away to Energywise Ireland Neptune on Sunday.
Finding themselves 11 points down late in the third quarter, the visitors recovered strongly to make it back-to-back wins, Beni Fungula and Clayton Ladine serving up a combined 41 points, while Jordan Blount claimed 12 defensive boards on his way to a total of 14 rebounds against a Neptune side that had also lost out to Killester 98-67 at home the previous night.
It was a productive double-game weekend for Killester as they put both Energywise Ireland Neptune and Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU to the sword to keep themselves in among the top four teams.
