Latrell Jossell inspires Ballincollig in Belfast Star showdown as Neptune and Demons beaten 

Ballincollig are outright leaders of the Domino’s Super League following a terrific 84-81 win over Belfast Star at the Newforge Sports Complex.

The Cork side came out of the blocks like a team possessed and with American Latrell Jossell in superb shooting form, they raced into a 32-19 lead entering the second quarter.

Star coach Adrian Fulton, whose side have been struggling in the opening quarter of games all season, got it right on the restart. In a rip-roaring period, the sides were level at 46 points each at the break. Ballincollig responded in style and with Josh Steel finding his shooting range, they restored a six-point lead entering the crucial final quarter.

Coming down the stretch, both teams went for jugular and amazingly Star commanded a five-point lead when Ballincollig called a time-out with 1.26 remaining. Jossell nailed a monstrous three-pointer on the resumption and when Dylan Corkery followed up, the sides were tied with 35 seconds left.

The northerners missed an opportunity on their next possession before a Jossell three at the death secured a famous win.

For the record, Jossell finished with a game-high 34 points in Ballincollig's 11th win in a row.

The other Cork sides Energywise Ireland Neptune and UCC Demons were beaten on the road and remain in serious trouble in their relegation battle ahead of next weekend's derby.

Neptune travelled to play UCD Marian and were basically given a basketball lesson at Belfield losing 100-68. The Dublin side suffered bad news leading up to the game when they lost star American Tanner Graham with an injury and, incredibly, they signed Zach Hinton who was released by UCC Demons a few weeks ago.

Hinton only managed five points in 15 minutes of action which highlights Neptune’s dismal showing as all they could manage was a paltry 68 points. There are major problems at the Blackpool club as they only got 23 points from their Irish players, of which 17 came from Eoin Nelson against his former club.

A poor game from Adon Grogorio saw him chip in with seven points in 36 minutes of action, after scoring 30 in his previous game against Tralee Warriors.

SCARY

UCC Demons dominated St Vincent’s for long periods but reports from the game and stats from Swish (the official BB Ireland App) suggest they had two players ejected in their 103-99 defeat. On top of this the referees dished out a number of technical fouls against the Cork side that really sums up a bad night at the office.

In a game of huge significance Demons should have closed out this game when in control but not for the first time has indiscipline come back to haunt them.

Five Americans later and their record of 2-12 makes X-rated reading, but the one plus is that new American signing Jordan Washington looks a player that actually cares and in his second game chipped in with 31 points.

In the Women’s Super League, there was disappointment for Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell when they went down to St Paul’s Killarney 73-67.

Despite a 31-point contribution from Edel Thornton, Brunell couldn’t keep their Kerry opposition at bay coming down the stretch. When the Brunell coaching staff look at their stats they will be see they had too many Irish players getting good minutes with zero points behind their names.

Fr Mathew’s signed American Stacie Jones before their home clash with Flomax Liffey Celtics and despite the new professional chipping win with 18 points they fell short losing 94-80.