Neptune one victory away from glory as Tolka lose unbeaten tag
ESB Men's SuperLeague
Neptune 78 Esat Telecom Demons 63
Rasuel McKune 20 John Esteck 17
Stephen McCarthy 18 Joe McKenny 15
Ricardo Leonard 12 Braulia Hernandez 10Denny Notre Dame 57(31) Tolka Rovers 65(29)
Anthony Jenkins 14 Greg Haffner 22
Eric Blair 14 Randal Mounts 9
Tony McDonagh 9 Lennie McMillan 9
Denny Notre Dame had an abysmal first quarter allowing Tolka Rovers to build
up a 17-8 lead. Denny woke up in the 2nd quarter with Jenks hitting a three
and Damien Sealy coming off the bench to hit a quick 7pts. Greg Haffner had
a great first half for Tolka with 10pts, but it was Tolka's tenacity on defence that kept the game so close at half time with Denny just shading it by a basket.Early in the third quarter Denny sprang into a 7pt lead, and for a second it
looked like they might repeat their Sprite Cup second half routing of Tolka,
but this time round they could not consolidate their lead as Haffner hit back with 12pts to leave both teams tied on 45 apiece at the end of the third quarter. Tolka were battling hard for victory in the 4th quarter, while Denny by contrast seemed to fade and Tolka ran out comfortable winners in the final minute of the game. Denny were without the services of Terence Wilson and Ciaran Dempsey.Waterford Crystal 77 (38) Tolka Rovers 70(31)
Darren Sealy 14 Lennie McMillan 21
David Cunningham 14 Greg Haffner 17
Reggie Scott 14 Paddy Boylan 10
Tolka dominated under the boards in the first quarter and 10pts from Greg
Haffner gave them a 17-14 lead over the hosts going into the 2nd quarter.
Darren Sealy came off the bench to hit four three-pointers in the second
quarter and despite losing Dean Kavanagh through injury; Crystal led 38-31
at the break.
Crystal continued to dominate in the second half and increased their lead to
69-41 at the end of the third quarter. Tolka trailed by 14pts with a minute
to go, but some late scoring from Lennie McMillan cut their deficit to just
7pts at the end.Burger King Limerick 74(45) Neptune 107(42)
Kareem Lewis 25 Jonh D'Orlando 27
Rock Winston 22 Ricardo Leonard 18
Mike Norris 11 Rasuel McKune 15
Neptune recorded their second victory in less than 24hrs with a superb 2nd
half performance over Limerick. Neptune led by just 2pts at the end of the
first quarter and Limerick enjoyed a 3pt lead at the end of the half thanks
to the shooting of Lewis and Winston. But it was in the third quarter, as
has been their pattern this season, that Neptune really began to dominate
the game with John D'Orlando in sparkling form for the champions in waiting
as they outscored Limerick 15-2 in the first 2 minutes of the quarter.
Limerick battled hard, but they were already 20pts behind when Mike Norris
picked up an Intentional and Technical foul in succession for an altercation
with Gordon Fitzgerald and this sealed Neptune's supremacy on the game and
they outscored Limerick by 62-32 in the second half.St Vincent's 103(37) Hibernian UCD Marian 81(33)
Brian Tonkovich 31 Paddy Glover 21
Stephen McGuirk 30 Huey Futch 18
David Donnelly 17 Mike Trimmer 14
This Dublin derby game started as a close affair with little between the
sides in the first half. St. Vincent's opened up a lead in the third
quarter with McGuirk on form yet again for the Glasnevin side and they
enjoyed a 10pt lead going into the fourth quarter. Vincent's controlled the
game in the fourth quarter and their lead never looked threatened. With 6
minutes to play Mike Trimmer was disqualified from the game for a double
technical with began with an incident with Kevin Rooney. He caught Rooney
with his elbow and broke his nose - he was called for an Intentional foul
for this and when he protested was awarded a technical foul. He continued to
protest and was awarded a second technical foul (disqualifying foul) and had
to lead the gym. But at this point in the game Vincent's were still well in
control.Dungannon 78(38) Sligo Dairies 80(40)
Brad Wedel 22 Chris Doyal 22
Chis Pagan 22 Andy Meyer 21
Trevor Smullen Michael Murphy 15St. Vincent's 81(47) Dungannon 69(37)
Brian Tonkovich 19 Brad Wedel 28
Stephen McGuirk 17 Matt Collins 21
David Donnelly 16 Chris Pagan 10
Dungannon suffered their second defeat in 24 hours while St. Vincent's victory means Neptune must wait for one more victory before they can claim the league as theirs.1st half of the game was a dull affair with both sides showing the effects
of playing a second game in a short time period and they at times appeared
to be just going through the motions. Vincent's led by 9pts at the end of
the first quarter and maintained that advantage until the half time break.
The game livened up with the 3rd quarter, with Dungannon, who were missing
Trevor Smullen due to GAA commitments, stepping up their game with Wedel and
Collins battling hard. But Vincent's were still in control and enjoyed a
10pt lead going into the final quarter. Vincent's sat out their two
Americans for much of the fourth quarter and ran their bench, with Coach
Joey Boylan coming on for the last four minutes of the game. Dungannon
picked up three technicals in the game - 1 on the coach and two against
players. Karl Donnelly was rested for much of the game ahead of his big GAA
match for Na Fianna next weekend and Mark Keenan was missing through injury.Killester 87(56) Denny Notre Dame 101(48)
Calvin Morris 29 Anthony Jenkins 24
Damon Shoultz 18 Tony McDonagh 20
Paddy Kelly 10 Eric Blair 19Denny Notre Dame played with their starting five of Blair, Jenkins, Dempsey,
McDonagh and Benjamin for almost all of this close Dublin derby encounter.
There was little to divide the sides in the first half with it all square at
the end of the first quarter 22 apiece. Michael Westbrooks, fresh from his
Bank of Ireland MVP performance earlier in the week, came of the bench to
score a quick 6pts with five minutes left in the half to give Killester an
8pt advantage at the break.Denny had the best of the third quarter with Tony McDonagh awesome against
his old club, and Denny pulled ahead to lead 77-71 going into the last ten
minutes.
The last quarter proved to be an eventful one with a foul call on Jonathan
Grennell, which the Killester bench felt was unfair, seeing him fouled out
of the game with 6.44 to go. 20 seconds later and his coach Peter Ferrari
was forced to leave the gym after a double technical (disqualifying foul)The Killester coach and bench felt that Anthony Jenkins fouled Calvin Morris
after being knocked to the floor but no foul was given. Morris protested, as did Ferrari and he was awarded a technical by the referee, he continued to protest and was given a second technical and forced to leave the gym.
Denny were up 82-71 at that point and held on for the victory which puts
them in joint second place with Star and Demons. Killester made a special
presentation to Denny at half time in honour of their historic four Sprite
Cups in a row.Burger King Limerick 110(51) Kerry Spring Killarney 92(37)
Kareem Lewis 48 Robbie Turner 29
Rock Winston 31 Terry Smith 22
John Galvin 16 John Teahan 24
Limerick bounced back from their trouncing by Neptune last night to exert a
comprehensive defeat of their own against Kerry Spring Killarney with Kareem
Lewis scoring a weekend high of 48pts.Limerick were in control from the start and enjoyed a 7pt lead at the end of
the first quarter. They extended their lead to 14 at half time with Lewis on fire and Winston providing able back up. When Kerry Spring Killarney lost Vince Daly with an ankle injury midway through the third quarter victory was Limerick's.Star of the Sea 98(49) Sligo Dairies 75(38)
John Leahy 26 Chris Doyal 37
Gabe Jackson 18 Andy Meyers 17
Scott Summersgill 17 Shane O'Meara 10
Gareth Maguire 15
Star of the Sea grabbed their second convincing victory of the week with a
98-75 win over Sligo in a game they dominated from tip-off. Gabe Jackson
was suffering from an injury he picked up mid-week against Dungannon, and
Star played with one American for much of the game - with Javan Dupree also
not in action through injury. The game was over at half time and Star went
on to build up a 38pt lead in the 3rd quarter and sat out their Americans
for the entire fourth quarter with their bench players getting ample court
time.ESB Women's SuperLeague
Meteors 58 (33) University of Limerick 53(25)
Karen Hennessy 16 Ursula Kyne 13
Ciara Harvey 16 Eimear Kyne 13
Killester 64(38) Tolka Rovers 62(27)
Gillian Ennis 17 Nikkie O'Brien 16
Sinead Vaughan 14 Rachel Kelly 12
June Blount 14 Vanessa Burke 10
Tolka Rovers were without Sharon Kelly who has gone to play in Denmark for
the immediate future. Killester started by far the stronger of the two
sides running up a 9-0 lead in the first two minutes and leaving Tolka
shell-shocked. Tolka did not score for the first 2.45 of the game. Tolka
then began to regain their composure, but Killester battled on and were
deserved 19-9 leaders at the end of the first quarter.
Tolka had a better second quarter, but Killester did not let up on the
pressure with June Blount really up for the game in her first full outing
since the Sprite Cup. Jillian Ennis and Sinead Vaughan were causing Tolka
problems under the boards and Killester enjoyed a 11pt lead at half time,
38-27.As expected, Tolka came out fighting after Maeve Howards half time talk and
they hit 10 unanswered points in the first two minutes of the second half to
cut just 1pt. Killester fought back and managed to keep a narrow lead for
the duration of the third quarter and the sides went into the final 10
minutes of the game with Killester back in front by 52-47.The fourth quarter went basket for basket and with 2.28 to go in the game
Tolka Rovers took the lead for the first time in the game. The lead see-sawed agonisingly for the next 2 minutes and with 7 seconds to go the sides were level at 62-62. Leesa Grennell went to the line for Killester making 1 from 2 to give Killester a 1pt advantage and with 5 seconds remaining a technical foul on Angie McNally sent Sinead Vaughan to the line for Killester and she coolly converted 1 from 2 to give Killester the two point victory and Tolka Rovers their first League defeat of the season, just one week ahead of the final showdown with Wildcats in Waterford.Crusaders 42(21) Avonmore Snowcream Wildcats 93(49)
Sinead Doyle 13 Orla Dempsey 28
Celine McDermott 11 Catriona White 23
Emma Pierce 7 Chris Kiely 10
Copyright Britball. Download is subject to Britball's Terms and Conditions