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Neptune stun Notre Dame at last to keep title course


Denny Notre Dame   66(39)  68(40)  Neptune
Anthony Jenkins 20       Ricardo Leonard 22
Brian Benjamin 14       Rasuel McKune 14
Eric Blair 10        John D'Orlando 12
Neptune almost certainly secured the league title with a buzzer beating 
winning shot from Stephen McCarthy which secured their 66-68 defeat of Denny Notre Dame in a thriller at the National Basketball Arena.  

With 3 seconds to go in the game Eamon Gallagher had levelled the sides with a three pointer.   Over time seemed on the cards, but McCarthy took the ball up court and made a jump shot from the elbow to give Neptune the victory and 
see Denny the wrong side of a buzzer beating shot this week.

Neptune caught Denny cold in the first quarter, with Jon D'Orlando and 
Ricardo Leonard particularly hot and Neptune enjoyed a 26-13 lead going into 
the second quarter.  Denny pulled in back with Anthony Jenkins and Brian 
Benjamin finding their form. Jenkins hit 8pts (including 2 three's) and 
Benjamin was just behind on 7pts in the second quarter to narrow the deficit 
to just 1pt going in at the break.

Denny started the third quarter brightly with Jenkins, Sealy and Benjamin 
hitting three's, but Neptune were not giving up the battle and they went to 
the line five times in the third quarter, making 8/10 to see them enjoy a 
9pt lead going into the final quarter. Eric Blair and Brian Benjamin 
combined to close the gap early in the fourth quarter and the sides traded 
baskets with nothing between the sides.  In the final minute the game was 
level when Blair made a free throw to give Denny a 1pt lead.  Leonard made 
two free throws followed by a quick basket to put Neptune 3pts clear before 
Gallaghers dramatic three pointer and McCarthy's even more dramatic buzzer 
beater ended an exciting and tense encounter.
 

Hibernian UCD Marian  92(38)  84(47)  Star of the Sea
Neville Charles 23       Gabe Jackson 30
Gary Edge 21        John Leahy 13
Mike Trimmer 19       Gareth Maguire 11

Tolka Rovers    87(41)  86(52)  Sligo Dairies
Randall Mounts 16       Chris Doyal 30
Greg Haffner/Paddy Boylan 14     Andy Meyers 29

Kerry Spring Water  Killarney 92(39)  91(44)   Waterford Crystal
Robbie Turner 30       Roscoe Patterson 34
John Teahon 18       Reggie Scott 26
Vince Daly 12        Dean Kavanagh 9
Despite leading by 8pts with 40seconds to go, KSW had to depend on the 
accurate free throw shooting of John Teahan to edge out Waterford Crystal.  
Crystal had a late rally of three big three pointers in the last 17 seconds, 
but Teahan converted 3 of 4 from the line to ensure victory for the home 
side.
Scott (who scored 20 first half points) gave Waterford a 22-19 advantage at 
the end of the 1st quarter.  Crystal led by 10 with 1.30 to go in the half 
before baskets from Teahan, Smith and Turner cut it to just 5pts at the 
break.  Powerful rebounding and clever assist plays from Smith set up Teahan 
and Turner for some vital scores in the second half to bring KSW back into 
the game, but Patterson was equally impressive for the visitors and Crystal 
maintained their lead to go into the final quarter 64-62 ahead of KSW.

A three pointer from Sealy gave Crystal a 5pt lead, but Daly and Teahan 
levelled the game for KSW at 69 all with 7 minutes to go.  Further baskets 
from Daly and Teahan gave KSW an 8pt advanatage with 40 seconds left.  
Patterson and Sealy hit three-pointers to make it 89-85 with 17 seconds 
left.  Teahan then converted two free throws with 15 seconds left to make it 
91-85 but a three from Patterson reduced it to 91-88  with 6 seconds 
remaining.  Teahan made ½ at the line with 3.6 seconds left and then 
Patterson hit another 3 on the buzzer, but KSW had that vital free throw to 
secure victory.

Sligo Dairies    79(33)  76(33)  Killester
Andy Meyers 28       Damon Shoultz 25
Chris Doyal 28       Calvin Morris 22
Mal Daly 12        Paddy Kelly 15
A gutsy performance from a Sligo team who had let a big lead and a badly 
needed victory slip away from them the night before in Tolka.  Despite 
obvious fatigue, Sligo performed well and were brilliantly led by Chris 
Doyal again.  Sligo trailed Killester for much of the game however, in the 
final quarter they stepped up the pace with Doyal and Meyers working well 
inside and they build up a narrow lead which they managed to hold on to till 
the final buzzer.

Dungannon     74(36)  81(45)  Clare Jets
Trevor Smullen 18       Anthony Pieper 30
Chris Pagan 17       Lester Hunt 27
Matt Collins 14        Willie Gallas 10
Dungannon will conisder themselves slightly unlucky to have let this game 
slip away from them.  Their top scorer Trevor Smullen and key American Brad 
Wedel sat out almost ½  of the game with injury problems, but despite the 
absence of Wedel on court, Dungannon trailed by just 1pts at the end of the 
1st quarter, 18-19.  Wedel was introduced in the second quarter with a 
heavily strapped knee, but he was clearly unfit and the Jets pulled away  
through the hard work of Lester Hunt to lead by 9 at the break.  It was not 
to be Wedel's night as in the third quarter he picked up a technical foul, 
his fifth foul of the game and he had to sit it out.  Smullen was re-introduced to the game and he lifted Dungannon with three unanswered baskets to leave Dungannon adrift by just 6pts going into the final quarter. 

The teams went level twice in the last 10 minutes, with Dungannon losing 
Matt Collins with five to go on foul trouble.  But Clare Jets were clinical 
in their free throw shooting and this proved the difference in the two sides 
in the end with the Jets taking a 7pt win.

Esat Telecom Demons  94(45)  82(44)  Burger King Limerick
John Esteck 29       Rock Winston 44
Brualia Hernandez 16       Kareem Lewis 25
Joe McKenny 9       Mike Norris 17
The game was relatively close until the last quarter with little between the 
sides.  Demons had a superb third quarter scoring 32pts, but Limerick kept 
in close contact hitting 26pts.  Demons were awarded two technicals in the 
4th quarter which gave Limerick an advantage and woke the home side up who 
then stormed ahead for the 8pt win.

St Vincent's    105(55) 90(39)  Tolka Rovers
Brian Tonkovich25       Randall Mounts 26
David Donnelly 21       Lennie McMillan 24
Ferdinand Williams 18      Paddy Boylan 12
St. Vincent's dominated the first quarter of this local derby running up a 
20pt lead.  They let Tolka back into the game in the second quarter as they 
cut the deficit to just 16pts at the break.  Tolka started the second half 
strongly with Boylan and Mounts on form and they brough it back to a 5pt 
game going into the final quarter.  But Vincent's ran up a 10pt lead again 
and Tolka struggled to catch up and were forced to foul, but Vincent's were 
on the form from the line, with Karl Donnelly making 9./10 in the last 
quarter and they ran out easy winners in the last few minutes.
Vincent's were forced to play most of the second quarter without Ferdinand 
Williams and Stephen McGuirk who were on foul trouble early in the second 
half.  Mark Keenan did not play due to injury.  David Donnelly did a superb 
defensive job on Lennie McMillan.

Hibernian UCD Marian  77(37)  80(39)  Denny Notre Dame
Pat Glover 22        Eric Blair 31
Mike Trimmer 20       Anthony Jenkins 18
Drew Cooper 14       Damien Sealy 12
Trimmer was fouled out with 1.50 to go and Marian were trailing 71-76.  
Marian led 24-23 after the first quarter and trailed by 10 54-64 at the end 
of the third quarter.  Denny were without Ciaran Dempsey, who was on the bench but  did not play and Brian Benjamin who was missing due to work commitments.

ESB Women's SuperLeague

Tolka Rovers     89(47)  67(34)  Univ. of Limerick
Rachel Kelly 27        Ursula Kyne 19
Roisin Dixon 15        Nicola Farell 18
Sharon Kelly 11        Nollaig Cleary 13
Tolka maintained their course of the title with a comfortable win over Limerick.   Good scoring from Ursula Kyne and Nicola Farrell kept Limerick in the game 
but at ½ time Tolka led by 13. Tolka stepped up the pace in the third quarter and with Rachel Kelly on  fire, they led by 21pts at the end of the 3rd quarter. Maeve Howard ran her bench in the fourth quarter, but Tolka still ran out easy winners with German transfer target Sharon Kelly lining out for the League leaders yet again.

Meteors    74(30)  37(23)  Crusaders
Orla Nolan 16        Sinead Doyle 13
Catherine O'Sullivan 15      Celine McDemront 8
Sinead Harvey 11       Emma Pierce 7

Avonmore Snowcream Wildcats    76(34)  33(23)  Killester
Jillian Hayes  29        Sinead Vaughan 11
Catriona White 14        Caroline Hanly 8
 
 
 


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