Cork Basketball: Worry times for UCC Demons after another defeat
Tala Fam Thiam, UCC Demons, had an impressive game despite the defeat at the Mardyke. Picture: Jim Coughlan.
Killester, driven by a 37-point contribution from Josh Wilson, proved too strong for a disappointing UCC Demons side in a low-key Domino’s Men’s Super League clash at the Mardyke Arena on Sunday.
In one of the most disappointing Demons performances for many years at this venue, Killester, even without Irish internationals Paul Dick and Ciaran Roe, simply ran the Cork side ragged. The champions must now travel to the capital on Monday for a clash with UCD Marian where a loss would put them on a 1/5 record in this campaign.
Killester had a great start with a monstrous three-pointer from American Robert Braswell. Demons looked sloppy in defence as Killester raced into a 6-2 lead in the third minute as they were punishing Demons with offensive rebounds and finishing with relative ease.
This is a worrying time for Demons, and seven minutes into the quarter, American Shariff Black hadn’t registered a basket and was continuously turning the ball over.
Finally, Black banked a shot as Demons edged into an 11-10 lead but both teams were guilty of poor shooting and passing options. The one player that stood out for Demons in this period was Tala Fam and when Dave Lehane drained two free throws with 20 seconds remaining, they edged into a 19-15 lead.
The Dublin finished with one free throw and after a disappointing quarter Demons took a 19-16 lead into the second period. On the restart, Demons gave up more boards and that allowed Killester score as the home team had a strange rotation on court.
The overall standard of basketball from the home side was abysmal and with Killester only faring a little better, the sides were level at 23 points midway through the quarter. In a nutshell, Demons were struggling to score as Killester found a way to command a three-point lead with 1.44 remaining to the interval.
Demons' match-ups in defence were questionable and although this was a very understrength Killester side, they continued to hang in with Josh Wilson the go-to man. The closing minutes continued to be scrappy as Demons were fortunate to go in at the break leading by the minimum 34-33 after a disappointing 20 minutes of basketball.
Looking at Demons' half-time stats, they had 7/22 inside the arc (32%) and outside the paint 3/15 that gave them a paltry 20%.
Wilson nailed a three-pointer on the resumption, only for James Hannigan to respond with a basket. Little changed for Demons in the opening exchanges as consecutive Braswell three-pointers surged Killester into a 10-point lead in the 24th minute.
In five minutes of basketball, all Demons could chalk up was a mere four points as they looked in serious trouble with Killester basically bossing the game. In the closing minutes of this quarter Demons had their Americans on the bench as they looked a beaten team at both ends of the court.
The closing minutes continued to be dominated by Killester nailing shots at will and entering the final quarter, Killester deservedly commanded a 13-point lead: 61-48.
Coming down the stretch, Killester remained in control as Demons never looked like gaining control much to the dismay of their loyal fans. In the end Demons look a pale shadow of the side that won this championship last season. A long winter could be on the cards for them given their performances to date.
S Black 22, T Fam 13, J Doles 9.
J Wilson 37, R Braswell 16, A McGeever 8.
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.
A McGeever, J Wilson, C O’Reilly, D Sheridan, P Dick, M McGrath, F Raqueen, C Roe, K Yang, R Braswell, B Chazelas, J Rawdon.
Armandas Immars (Cavan), Emer Buckley (Kerry), Sean Butterley (Dublin).
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