Cork Basketball: Relegation battle goes down to the wire for Neptune and UCC Demons

The relegation battle for Energywise Ireland Neptune and UCC Demons in the Domino’s Men’s Super League will go down to the wire following the weekend results.

Energywise Ireland Neptune knew nothing but a win would suffice in their clash on the road against Tralee warriors and they rose to the occasion when running out impressive 89-71 winners.

In the opening quarter, Neptune played champagne basketball and when Eli Lenihan nailed a long-range three-pointer, Neptune surged into a 12-point lead.

The Warriors looked rattled and they spent the remaining minutes chasing the game with Neptune commanding a 14-point lead, 26-12, heading into the second quarter.

Nil Sabata made a welcome return from not playing in games on the road but Warriors reduced the deficit to eight points in the 14th minute.

The closing minutes to the interval saw both teams trading baskets but Neptune were still in control at the break when going in with a 12-point cushion.

Credit to the Neptune Americans Mike Hayes and Jordan Henderson they were really up for battle and midway through the quarter, they still had a 15-point lead.

Warriors were simply ambushed on their home terrain and Neptune had a 65-49 lead heading into the final quarter.

Coming down the stretch Neptune continued to score at will as their bid to keep their Super League status intact remains on track following this impressive 18-point win.

Fellow Cork strugglers UCC Demons had a bad night at the office as they went down 118-109 away to Sligo All Stars.

Demons gave a debut to new American signing Andres Rivera but his debut proved a disappointment despite him chipping in with 16 points.

The Cork side did get a reasonable start and led 33-27 after the opening quarter with defence non-existent from both sides. On the restart, Sligo edged ahead in another shoot-out quarter and the westerners led by the minimum at the break.

That’s as good as it got for Demons. On each occasion, they threatened to gain control turnovers came back to haunt them. Their final tally of 21 tells its own story.

HIGH-NOTE

In the Women’s Super League Career Decisions UCC Glanmire finished their regular season campaign with an impressive away win 87-78 at Cavan Eagles.

In a game that Glanmire dominated from tip off they managed to surge into a 15-point lead and the northerners were always chasing the game from this period.

There is little doubt the Glanmire American duo of Jewel Watkins (35) and Viane Cumber (23) have been inspirational throughout the campaign as once again they contributed 58 points to their team’s tally.