Cork Basketball: Hectic weekend of games crucial for Neptune and Demons

The survival battle for UCC Demons and Energywise Ireland Neptune in the Domino’s Men’s Super League continues this weekend with a double-header of games and both teams facing difficult opposition.

Energywise Ireland Neptune were buoyant last weekend when they travelled to play Cork rivals Ballincollig, fresh from their National Cup triumph over Tralee Warriors.

Ballincollig were missing ace American Latavious Mitchell, who had to return home for the funeral of his grandmother, and paid the price when Neptune outplayed them for long periods to run out 83-69 winners.

Credit to Neptune, they took care of business in style with American Mike Hayes having his best game of the season with a 28-point tally. Another big plus for Neptune was that they got 35 points from their Irish players, as Eoin Nelson finished with 18.

The first game of the weekend for Neptune will be in the capital tomorrow when they face Eanna. The Dublin side have dipped in form since losing Cork-born Sean Jenkins through injury and their latest defeat at St Vincent’s is a worrying trend for them.

Losing 73-68 was a poor display but it's noticeable that coach Gareth Winters relies heavily on his Bosman pairing of Stefan Desnica and Kristijan Andabaka, who basically haven’t been putting up the numbers.

This could be the perfect time for Neptune to pounce and get the all-important win.

On Sunday, Neptune are in action again when they host Limerick Celtics at the Neptune Stadium (4.30pm).

The Blackpool outfit almost defeated Celtics in their previous clash and this is certainly a great opportunity to get breathing space from the relegation zone.

RELIEVED

UCC Demons players and fans were mighty relieved that they overcame Tralee Warriors 80-75 in their latest battle to avoid relegation.

Demons were totally dominant in the first half, commanding a 20-point interval lead that increased to 23 points early in the third quarter.

Not for the first time this season did silly shooting and passing options nearly come back to haunt them before eventually stumbling over the line after the Warriors reduced the deficit to two points.

It will be back to the capital tomorrow for Demons when they play Killester at the IWA Clontarf, a venue where Demons haven’t had much luck getting results in recent years.

The one plus for Demons is that American Tamyrik Fields will return from suspension but they will need huge improvement to get anything from this game.

It will be back to the Mardyke Arena on Sunday for Demons when they entertain UCD Marian in a battle of the colours.

Demons second American Jordan Washington needs to refocus what is happening on court as he tends to celebrate every basket he gets when looking into the crowd.

UCD Marian are a decent side but this is a game that Demons could very well win and if fatigue doesn’t catch up with them, they are capable of securing the points.

Ballincolllig will welcome back American Latavious Mitchell and they will need him tomorrow when they travel to play high-scoring UCD Marian at Belfield.

UCD showed true grit last weekend when coming away with maximum points on the road against Sligo All-Stars and will fancy their chances against the cup champions.

At the start of the season, UCC Demons released Zach Hinton but after returning to the States, he was signed up by the Dublin outfit after their star American Tanner Graham picked up an injury.

Hinton hasn’t left his new club down and finished with a game-high 33 points against Sligo.

Ballincollig coach Ciaran O’Sullivan couldn’t have been happy with his team’s performance against Neptune and is sure to have them primed for this game.

If Ballincollig bring their A game to the table, there is no reason why they cannot get their season back to winning ways.

The weekend will be completed on Monday when they host Killester at the MTU Arena with a scheduled 2pm tip-off.