Awaiting the arrival of Garvey's Tralee Warriors on Saturday evening, Dublin's Templeogue would have had one eye on avenging the disappointment that followed their surprising Hula Hoops National Cup exit at the hands of the Kerry club.
Knocking out the reigning cup-holders on their own patch back in late October, Tralee repeated the trick this weekend, with even less to spare on the scoreboard; 99-93 a slim winning-margin that nevertheless left Tralee's coach Pat Price feeling very pleased with what he had seen.
"Templeogue are terrific," Price conceded.
"They made everything difficult for us, they were really well prepared and this win was earned.
"I’m very proud of the guys in how we responded in the second half, I think we were more assertive on offense and Paul Dick made some great plays."
In Paul Dick, Garvey's Tralee Warriors found their superstar for the night. Vital at both ends of the court, new American signing Keith Jumper also demonstrated his worth to this impressive Kerry side.
Here's @starryboy14 with the steal AND the lay-up as @warriors_bc beat Templeogue 99-93 last night in Inchicore.⛹️ pic.twitter.com/G1fgoLTRWU
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) November 25, 2018
Elsewhere, C and S Neptune were the source of an arguably greater upset against UCD Marian in Cork on Saturday. Recording an 82-66 win, Lehmon Colbert was a prolific threat for the home side, scoring 22-points overall.
A third win in succession for Neptune, head coach Paul Kelleher was thrilled with a win that sought to steady a frantic few opening weeks to the season.
"We worked really, really hard this week," Kelleher said.
"It’s still an early time in the league, we still have so many more improvements to make but today is a day we will enjoy for a few hours and then back to work on Monday."
The Maree men very nearly caused an upset of their own in Oranmore on Saturday evening. Level with Pyrobel Killester as the end of normal time, the Dublin club eked out 91-86 win in a thrilling overtime battle.
Although the result didn't go his way in the end, special credit must go to Maree's Sean Sellers. Of his side's 86-points scored, Sellers was responsible for an astonishing 43.
Meanwhile, Belfast Star remain top of the Men's Super League after notching up a seventh win in succession. Coming out on top of an 88-78 battle with Keane's SuperValu Killorglin, head coach Adrian Fulton wasn't pleased with every aspect of Belfast's performance.
"It was probably the worst start we have had all year," Fulton admitted.
"Killorglin were excellent and Daniel Jokabitius gave us all sorts of problems. Yet again, we got terrific contributions off the bench to help us get a foothold in the game. The league is relentless, every week is a huge challenge."
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Over in the Women’s Super League, Courtyard Liffey Celtics overcame Fr Matthews despite the best efforts of Shannon Brady; the Matthews woman continuing her fine form with 14-points for the visitors.
A results that keeps the Celtics top of the league for another weekend, Ambassador UCC Glanmire were comfortable 78-40 winners against WIT Wildcats in the Mardyke Arena on Saturday evening.
Singleton SuperValu Brunell had a similarly straight-forward run of things on Sunday afternoon. Taking on IT Carlow in the Parochial Hall, a smashing first-half performance had them 24-points clear of Carlow. In the end, the deficit could only be reduced to 19 and Brunell made up for last weekend's defeat to the Wildcats.
"A win is a win for us at the end of the day," the Brunell head coach admitted.
"We had a tough few weeks so it’s good to get a win before we play Glanmire during the week, that’s always a highlight in the calendar for us."
NUIG Mystics must continue their search for a first win of the season after losing 60-34 to the Marble City Hawks on Saturday night. Meanwhile, DCU Mercy got the better of Pyrobel Killester in this weekend's Dublin derby.
Full time Women's Super League it finished @dcumercy 81 @KillesterBball 60 #ThisIsSuper
@20x20_ie #ThisIsSuper #20x20 #showyourstripes #womeninsport #CantSeeCantBe pic.twitter.com/zYc9GlkMHf— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) November 25, 2018
81-60 winners in the end, Irish internationals Sarah Woods and Rachel Huijsdens put in mammoth performances for the university side.
For more highlights of the weekend's games, visit Basketball Ireland's Twitter account.
Basketball Ireland Results - November 24/25
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Griffith College Swords Thunder 108-88 Moycullen
UCC Demons 85-84 DCU Saints
Maree 86-91 Pyrobel Killester (after overtime)
CandS Neptune 82-66 UCD Marian
Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin 78-88 Belfast Star
Templeogue 93-99 Garvey’s Tralee Warriors
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
Courtyard Liffey Celtics 67-56 Fr Mathews
Ambassador UCC Glanmire 78-40 Maxol WIT Wildcats
Marble City Hawks 60-34 NUIG Mystics
DCU Mercy 81-60 Pyrobel Killester
Singleton SuperValu Brunell 87-62 IT Carlow Basketball
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
Ulster University Elks 92-64 GameFootage.net Titans
Abbey Seals Dublin Lions 142-70 LYIT Donegal;
Limerick Celtics 80-90 Tradehouse Central Ballincollig
Waterford Vikings 73-79 IT Carlow Basketball
UL Sports Eagles 101-70 LIT
Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney 80-76 Portlaoise Panthers
EJ Sligo All-Stars 78-74 KUBS BC (after overtime)
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One:
Phoenix Rockets 78-93 Portlaoise Panthers
Ulster University Elks 96-68 Limerick Celtics
UL Huskies 83-75 Swords Thunder
Trinity Meteors 53-62 St Mary’s Castleisland
Fabplus North West 30-97 Maree
Next weekend will see the return of the ‘Belfast Classic’ from Thursday, November 29th to Saturday, December 1st. For more information and fixtures visit http://www.
