Bord Gáis Neptune kept the pressure on at the top of the Southern Conference with a comfortable victory over UCD Marian.
However, despite the 89-71 victory, UCC Demons matched them stride for stride with their 91-76 win over DCU Saints.
Marian were without their American Donnie Stith and Neptune used that weakness to stay in the hunt for play-off home advantage.
"We did enough, we got off to a good start in the first quarter, opening up a 15 point lead," said Neptune coach Mark Scannell.
"I was delighted we got the opportunity to give the youngsters a run out and overall I felt our scoring was very good. The win keeps us on track but we still have a long way to go."
UCC Demons’ Shawn Atupem was in determined mood, contributing 38 points, in their victory while Shane Coughlan enjoyed another good day for the Cork giants.
"We played well in patches," said Demons coach Paul Kelleher.
"We have been good offensively for the majority of the season. Sadly for us we had a bad day in that department in the cup final but we were more like ourselves against the Saints. It’s a great response and we hope we can finish the season on a high."
UL Eagles showed there was no sign of a hangover from their cup win as they beat Moycullen 80-59.
"This could have been a potential ‘banana skin’ coming off the cup win but delighted with the effort from the squad," admitted Eagles coach Mark Keenan.
Belfast Star secured their second win of the season beating 11890 Killester 112-109 in double overtime.
In the Nivea Women’s SuperLeague, UL recorded their 29th consecutive win beating Singleton’s SuperValu Brunell, winning 91-61. Team Montenotte Hotel edged out a battling 11890 Killester outfit 57-48 while Waterford Wildcats came from 17 points behind to beat Oblate Dynamos 60-49.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, February 13, 2012
