Cork Basketball: Ballincollig back on track but face tricky trip on Thursday night at Tralee Warriors

Ballincollig showed their class again in the Domino’s Men’s Super League with a comfortable away win over Eanna 94-85.

The Cork side are joint second in the table with Killester behind leaders Belfast Star and their trip to play Tralee Warriors on Thursday will be crucial to keep pace in their drive to complete the elusive double.

To be fair Ballincollig lost to Neptune without American Latavious Mitchell and their second defeat since their cup success, to Killester, was when their second American Latrell Jossell was sidelined.

When Ballincollig have a full complement of players, they are a different animal and player-coach Ciaran O’Sullivan will now set his sights on the closing weeks of the season.

Tralee Warriors looked a deflated side in the cup last month, but they produced a solid display last weekend when winning on the road at St Vincent’s Dublin. American Jordan Perkins led their scoring on 25 points and with fellow professional Irshaad Hunte finishing with 19 they have a duo capable of hurting Ballincollig.

The one worry for the Warriors has been the dip in form of Daniel Jokubaitis who was restricted to a mere two points against Vincent’s after missing the previous game against Belfast Star with injury. The Warriors on their home court will test Ballincollig but unless there is a total dip in form for the Leesider’s they should gain maximum points.

CRUCIAL

UCC Demons put in a good shift despite losing away to Belfast Star 99-92 and another crucial game awaits them on Sunday when they entertain Dublin side Eanna.

Demons matched league leaders Star for almost 40 minutes but their dreaded tendency of turning the ball over came back to haunt them, particularly in the closing minutes when the game hung in the balance.

In my book too many players in this Demons team have consistently turned the ball over in this campaign and surely having the basic skill to pass the ball correctly is a must at this level.

Demons' American Jordan Washington had another tough evening with the match referees punishing him with some questionable calls.

The plus side for the coaching staff is that performances have improved immensely, and they will still feel they are capable of making the play-offs.

Roy Downey came out of retirement to help his club stave off relegation and to be fair his inclusion was a boost as they won away to Sligo All Stars.

IN FORM

American Mike Hayes, who chipped in with 43 points, has improved immensely. More of the same will be needed next weekend when they travel to Killester on Saturday and host Killorglin on Sunday.

As consistently stated, basketball in this city and the Super League in general need Neptune in the top tier and it would be nice to see their fans backing them in their bid to stave off relegation.

Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell will be disappointed with their latest defeat at Liffey Celtics this time going down 81-71.

Americans Brailyn Joseph (14) and Maddie Cluse (17) failed to shine in yet another crucial game but luckily captain Edel Thornton had a 22- point contribution.

The one noticeable aspect again was the number of Irish players getting good minutes and failing to do the business on the scoring front.

Career Decisions UCC Glanmire suffered an unexpected loss on the road at Waterford Wildcats going down 93-89.

Coach Mark Scannell will be disappointed after wins over Killester and Liffey Celtics in recent weeks, but they were simply ambushed coming down the stretch by the Deise outfit.