Cork Basketball: UCC Demons fall at home to league leaders Belfast Star after overtime
Jarvis Doles flies high to the rim for UCC Demons against Rapolas Buivydas, Belfast Star in the Domino’s Men’s Superleague at Mardyke UCC Arena. Picture: Larry Cummins
Belfast Star maintained their unbeaten record this season with a thrilling overtime win over UCC Demons at the Mardyke Arena on Sunday.
Demons, who had lost their last four games prior to this, dominated for long periods but a lack of focus at critical stages in the second half came back to haunt them.
After a cagey start from both, James Hannigan nailed a brace of free throws and the same player followed up with a stunning pull-up three-pointer in the second minute to increase their lead to 5-0. The home side looked up for battle as Star called an early time-out but Demons kept rolling and increased their lead to 12 points midway through the quarter.
Star made three subs as they lacked ideas in the offence court especially as Shariff Black was having his best game of the season for the hosts.
The difference between the sides was the sheer intensity of Demons' defence as they restricted the key Star scorers to lead 28-11 with 1.27 remaining in the quarter.
Demons held the advantage 32-16 entering the second quarter but on the resumption, Star began shooting the ball better and two minutes into this period the lead was reduced to 12. Demons recovered to tighten up again and managed to take a 20-point lead midway through the quarter.
For some strange reason, at this venue, Demons tend to drop down a few gears when in control and with Star taking advantage, they reduced the gap to nine by half-time.
Demons' intensity had dropped and Star went in at the break confident that they had weathered the storm. A look at Demons' stats saw them at 60% (12/20) inside the paint but outside the arc they only managed 4/12, 33%.
Star reduced the deficit further with a Shane Bell basket just eight seconds into the restart and after three minutes, the margin was five points.
With 1.23 remaining in the quarter Demons had a four-point lead but in the closing possession, Black produced a buzzer-beater Houdini shot to put Demons up 80-74 lead entering the final quarter.
On the restart Black again found his mojo and suddenly they were 10 points to the good before Star called a much-needed time-out. Daryl Cuff drained two free throws to extend the lead to 12 but once again, lax concentration saw Star reduce the deficit to three.
The return to action of Demons captain Dave Lehane saw him nail consecutive three-pointers that gave his side an eight-point lead midway through the fourth. Star wouldn’t lie down though and the game was tied at 92 points each with 3.24 remaining.
Star had a chance to win it but RJ Wilson missed two free throws and then Demons missed a shot to win it themselves.
We headed to overtime at 101 points each, where Star made the key baskets as Demons were left pondering what could have been in a game of high stakes.
S Black 33, J Doles 18, D Cuff 17.
S Bell 28, R Wilson 23, R Buivydas 22.
S Hannigan, B Horgan, J Beckom, L Sutton, K Hosford, J Hannigan, D Lehane, T Fam Thiam, D Cuff, C Looney, L Kivuvu, J Doles, S Black.
M Donnelly, L Donnelly, A Quinn, C Quinn, M Richardson, J Summersgill, R Grbutham, C Ryan, R Buivydas, C Liston, S Bell, L Pettigrew, R J Wilson.
Leanne Aherne (Limerick), Emer Buckley (Kerry), Marius Landos (Portlaoise).
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