Daryl Cuff and Scott Hannigan key as champions UCC Demons reel in Neptune
UCC Demons' Shariff Black dunks the ball against Energywise Ireland Neptune at the Mardyke Arena. Picture: David Creedon
A hard-fought win for the champions as UCC Demons were made battle to the wire by their great rivals Energywise Ireland Neptune in the Domino’s Men’s Super League clash at the Mardyke Arena on Friday.
In a game spoiled by the amount of fouls called on both sides, Demons, courtesy of a solid second half from Daryl Cuff and Scott Hannigan, eventually saw off the brave Neptune challenge.
Right from tip-off both sides played stringent defence with Neptune getting a good start with baskets from Nil Sabata and Cameron Glover. The visitors were on a mission and with Americans Zyon Dobbs and Glover dominating proceedings as they raced into a 17-7 lead after just four minutes.
Neptune continued to shoot the lights out and consecutive threes had Demons on the ropes.
Gradually Demons began showing greater intensity in defence and with American Shariff Black nailing consecutive baskets the deficit was reduced to four points in the seventh minute.
Credit to Neptune, they continued to take the game to the reigning champions and when Sabata went back door and nailed a basket and bonus they regained a 10-point.
Neptune held firm but a Fam buzzer-beater three-pointer reduced their lead to 31-24 entering the second quarter.
James Hannigan and Sabata exchanged baskets but suddenly the pace of the game slowed down a little.
Black was now playing smarter as Neptune’s scoring dried up and a Fam lay-up in midway through the quarter saw Demons lead for the first time 36-35 before the Neptune coach Keith Daly called a time-out.
The fouls that were being called on both sides bordered on the ridiculous as it took away from the occasion and made it tedious for the capacity attendance.
There is little doubt the scoring from both sides dried up and with 3.49 remaining to the interval Neptune led by the minimum.
Sabata picked up a shoulder injury with 1.36 remaining and that was cruel blow to his team as he was playing solid basketball at both ends of the court.
In the final Demons' possession Daryl Cuff nailed a monstrous three-pointer that gave his team a fortunate 52-49 interval lead.
On the restart Cuff drained two free throws and despite Eoin Nelson knocking down a huge shot outside the arc, Demons led 58-52 in the 23rd minute before a Neptune time-out.
The home side then went on a scoring spree that saw race into an 11-point lead as the character of Neptune was now being tested by their Cork rivals.
Hinton picked up his fourth foul but after having verbals with the match referee, he was punished with a technical foul, Demons' third.
The closing minutes were scrappy but Cuff did manage to nail a second three-pointer that helped the home team command a 80-66 lead entering the final quarter.
Coming down the stretch the game fizzled out as Demons just did enough to secure the points.
S Black 25, T Fam 18, S Hannigan 17, D Cuff 15, J Hannigan 14.
C Glover 33, Z Dobbs 25, C Heaphy 13, E Nelson 11.
S Hannigan, B Horgan, J Beckom, L Sutton, K Hosford, J Hannigan, D Lehane, T Fam Thiam, D Cuff, C Looney, L Kivuvu, Z Hinton, S Black.
K O’Donoghue, Z Dobbs, C Heaphy, N Power, E Linehan, J Scannell, S Noonan, C Glover, D O’Rourke, A Heaphy, A Heaphy, E Nelson, N Sabata, P Osagie.
Jamie Dooley (Portlaoise), Leanne Aherne (Limerick), Emer Buckley (Kerry).
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