Cork Basketball: Men's SuperLeague teams all on the road this weekend

The basketball action continues this weekend in the Domino’s Men’s Super League with all three Cork teams on the road with difficult games awaiting them.

Last weekend was a notable one for UCC Demons when they had wins in their double header away to Killester and on Sunday they won the battle of the colours against UCD Marian at the Mardyke Arena.

Winning against Killester in Dublin is never easy and despite dominating the majority of the game they were hanging on for dear life in the final quarter to record a three-point win 84-81.

Demons American Jordan Washington had the jury out in his opening games but to be fair he showed true class against Killester.

The problem for Washington is that Demons do not have natural guards that can give the required assists.

UCD Marian were visitors on Sunday to the Mardyke Arena and a huge crowd were treated to a heart-stopping game.

Demons when looking in control imploded and were almost caught napping but what a performance from James Hannigan coming down the stretch when he produced an exhibition of shooting that helped Demons seal a 14-point win.

Tomorrow it’s the long trip to play leaders Belfast Star and if Demons stay disciplined there is no reason to fear the northerners.

ARTILLERY

Star have been digging out results and their latest win over Tralee Warriors was a battle to the wire before eventually prevailing by six points.

To be honest, this Tralee team is probably the poorest to represent the club for many years and if they can pose Star problems, surely Demons have the artillery to give it a right go.

The return of James Beckom is a major boost for Demons. 

He needs to get more court time as some of the club's Irish players are simply not doing the business on the scoring front, as well as consistently turning the ball over.

Playing in Belfast is always a true test but a fully focused Demons side are sure to test their credentials.

Neptune had a bad Bank Holiday weekend after their game against Eanna was abandoned in the eighth minute of the opening quarter following a serious knee injury to Cian Heaphy, who was taken to Tallaght hospital.

Thankfully, Cian is now back in Cork recovering but the sad news is that he will be out of action for a number of months.

Neptune were trailing 22-4 and the rule states the game will continue back in the capital at the score in which the game was abandoned. Hard to figure out how the three Neptune professionals failed to score in the eight minutes played?

It got worse for Neptune on Sunday when they hosted Limerick Celtics and went down again: 105-93. 

After the game, the executive committee decided to part ways with their coach Ciaran McKiveney, the second man to lose his job this season.

The Shannonsiders, after having an eight-point interval lead, moved up a gear in the third quarter and outscored Neptune 33-19 to give them a 22-point cushion heading into the fourth.

Despite reducing the lead to 10 points with a couple of minutes remaining that’s as good as it got to conclude a miserable weekend.

On Saturday, they travel west to play Sligo All Stars under new coach Paul O'Brien in what is a crucial game for both sides and with Sligo signing new Americans Elijah Lawrence and Jordan Hunds, this will be a true test for the Blackpool outfit.

UNDERSTRENGTH

It was a mixed weekend for the understrength Ballincollig side who had an impressive win over UCD Marian in Dublin before losing at home on Monday to Killester.

American Latrell Jossell has been suffering with back spasms and coach Ciaran O’Sullivan will be hoping he will be back for tomorrow’s game against Eanna.

Ballincollig, with a full complement of players, are more than a handful for anyone in this league but Eanna are a decent side and their win away to Sligo on Monday was mighty impressive.