In form Ballincollig face another tough local derby clash against UCC Demons on Sunday afternoon

The champions Ballincollig will be hoping to build on last weekend’s double win in the capital over Eanna and Killester when they host Cork rivals UCC Demons at the MTU Arena on Sunday (3pm).

Ballincollig started on Saturday with an impressive 104-79 win over Eanna before getting pushed to the wire and overcoming Killester 84-79 on Monday at Clontarf.

It has been an interesting few weeks for player coach Ciaran O’Sullivan on the professional front as last week Derrick McDonald followed previous American Jaye Buckley out the door to be replaced by new signing Zachary Davis.

Davis didn’t play against Eanna but contributed 13 points in their win over Killester and coach O’Sullivan will be hoping that’s the final time he will be pulling the trigger this season.

On the Irish front, Adrian O’Sullivan continues to be their leading scorer and with Keelan Cairns on paternity leave there is more responsibility on the Irish Senior international.

UCC Demons stopped a three-game losing sequence when easily disposing of basement side St Vincent’s at the Mardyke on Monday.

Losing their derby clash to Neptune hurt the faithful as a total meltdown in the fourth quarter allowed their great rivals snatch victory.

The outside shooting of Neptune murdered Demons and why they continued to stay in zone for the entire fourth quarter beggars belief.

Credit to Neptune they seized the opportunity to win and Demons needed a win against Vincent’s to get some confidence back in the squad.

The recent performances of American Elijah Tillman are certainly a concern as he sat out the closing 14 minutes in the home loss to Belfast Star and on Monday spent similar time on the bench after chipping in with five points against possibly the poorest team in the league.

The body language of Tillman on court is not a good look but when he is benched he seems to be little involvement during time outs and naturally there must be a worry in the camp.

Tillman needs to get his act together fast and repay the club who have shown him respect since they signed him.

In the Blue Demons of old there is every chance his present displays wouldn’t be tolerated and let's hope commonsense prevails and if he has issues they are sorted sooner than later.

For Demons to have any chance of toppling Ballincollig a fully functional Tillman will need to be at it over four quarters.

The second Demons American Asanti Price can be awesome at times with his shooting but if he could take the ball to the hoop a little more instead of taking wayward shots he would be a serious player.

Ballincollig will go into the game as favourites and Demons will know they cannot afford another loss at this stage of the season.

Energywise Ireland Neptune were buoyant after their derby win over great rivals UCC Demons but were brought back down to earth on Monday when losing at home to Tralee Warriors.

The celebrations after defeating Demons were incredible and maybe they forgot that a battle-hardened Tralee team were in town three days later.

Early signs in the opening quarter suggested that Neptune were not at it as they allowed their Kerry opponents register 33 points in this period.

It was a ding-dong battle coming down the stretch with Neptune trailing by 13 points entering the final quarter.

Credit to Neptune they got to within of three points of the Warriors with 2.40 remaining but that’s as good as it got for them as the late rally produced in their derby win didn’t materialize on this occasion.

A trip tomorrow to the National Basketball Arena await Neptune against Killester who could well test their credentials.

In the Women’s Super League, Career Decisions UCC Glanmire host Limerick Celtics on Sunday at the Mardyke Arena (1.30pm).

Glanmire have put in poor displays in their recent defeats to Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell and Waterford Wildcats and coach Mark Scannell will be expecting huge improvement for this clash.

The shannonsiders are a solid team and their nine-point loss to high flying Cavan Eagles will give Glanmire notice they will need to be respected.

Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell travel to Dublin for a clash against the champions Trinity Meteors.

Brunell will be disappointed with their home loss on Monday to St Paul’s Killarney whose three professionals amassed 77 points of the 92 registered.

The Nellies had high aspirations going into this game and coach Keith Daly will need to have his troops primed for this crucial game on the road.