The Nivea For Men’s Superleague will be decided this weekend with Abrakebabra Tigers, DART Killester, Neptune and UCC Demons all vying for the biggest prize in Irish basketball.

The Nivea For Men’s SuperLeague resumes after the drama of last weekend’s National Cup semi-final clashes, where Abrakebabra Tigers and DART Killester booked their place in the men’s final, while Team Montenotte Hotel Cork have a set-up a date with Waterford Wildcats.

TRALEE Tigers will be in a mean mood when Merry Monk Ballina arrive in Tralee this weekend bidding to strip the home side of the coveted National Cup they paraded through the town along with the Sam Maguire on St. Patrick’s Day.

CHAMPIONS Abrakebabra Tigers will host Merry Monk Ballina at the Tralee Sports Centre in defence of the SuperLeague Cup title the weekend after next in what promises to be the game of the round.

Reigning Nivea For Men’s SuperLeague champions DART Killester open the 2007/08 campaign with a trip to UCD Marian on Thursday night, while University of Ulster begin their stint in the top division on Sunday.

DART Killester are the 2007 SuperLeague Champions after a superb tussle against Merry Monk Ballina at the UL Arena this afternoon.

The Nivea For Men SuperLeague and Women’s SuperLeague Championships will take a break this weekend and will make way for the National Cup competitions.

WHAT a difference a couple of days can make. After losing Wednesday night’s derby game in Tralee, Gleneagle Lakers had abandoned all hope of making it to the quarter-finals of the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague as Abrakebabra Tigers, it would appear, faced something of a formality when they entertained the Southern Conference basement team, Neptune, on Saturday night.

THE Women’s SuperLeague quarter-finals dominate the weekend’s basketball programme, but there is still a lot of unfinished business in the Nivea for Men SuperLeague - with Abrakebabra Tigers fighting for survival tonight at Neptune Stadium.

This weekend is the final weekend of the regular season in the Women’s SuperLeague. The top six have been decided, but this weekend teams will be playing for place.

DART Killester 91 UCC Demons 92

NEW coach Michael Evans will measure Neptune’s progress when they tip off a big weekend for Cork in tonight’s home game against Limerick Lions.

The first ever National Cup semi-final weekend tips off this weekend with an action-packed schedule of games.

UCC DEMONS obviously aren’t ones for the spirit of Christmas goodwill.

NEPTUNE fans are at their wits end at the moment. Out of the cup and after making a dismal start to the NIVEA for Men’s SuperLeague, their team can only go one way.

First up in basketball this weekend is National Cup action when UCC Demons take on local rivals Neptune in a backyard brawl at the Mardyke Arena in Cork on Friday night to determine which team advances through the knockout stages.

TRALEE TIGERS are determined to build on their confidence-boosting victory in Limerick last Monday when they travel to UCD tomorrow in week four of basketball’s NIVEA for Men SuperLeague.

Mardyke UCC Demons 91 Abrakebabra Tigers 81

THEY have the National Cup safely stashed away in Tralee, have topped the Southern Conference, and will be raging hot favourites to retain the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague when they put the title on the line at the Mardyke Arena in Cork this weekend.

COACH Jim Nugent says Davenno Hines will be a key player as Neptune battle for a place in the play-off stages of the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague.

BASKETBALL action in Cork gets off to a flying start in the New Year with two quarter-finals of the National Cup to be decided at Neptune Stadium on January 2, and the Mardyke Arena on Monday, January 3.

MARDYKE UCC Demons recorded a very significant victory over Roma St Vincent’s in the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague at Glasnevin yesterday and learnt almost immediately that they will be at home to UCD when they defend their National Cup title.

Today’s draw for the quarter finals of the National Cup saw the two SuperLeague conference leaders pitted against each other, with Abrekebabra Tigers travelling to DART Killester.

IT’S the game basketball has been talking about for weeks - the clash of the two best sides in the country as unbeaten DART Killester make the trip to Tralee to meet the Abrakebabra Tigers in the Nivea for Men SuperLeague tomorrow night.

WHEN Mardyke UCC Demons and Neptune battled their way through to the final of the National Cup at the end of last season everyone was regretting the fact that it was not to be played in Cork - for many the spiritual home of basketball.

CLYDE ELLIS will, after all, be available to Gleneagle Lakers when they play MDS Star in the first round of the men’s National Cup in Belfast on Saturday.

MARDYKE UCC DEMONS, the defending champions, will meet Neptune, last season’s beaten finalists, in the first round of the National Cup at the Mardyke Arena on the weekend of 20-21 November.

THE ESB Superleague finals will return to the spiritual home of Irish basketball next week in the plush surroundings of The Mardyke Arena, Cork's newest centre.

FOLLOWING their demolition of Horan’s Health Foods Tigers in Tralee on Saturday night nobody wanted to draw Neptune in the quarter-finals of the ESB National Cup, but Waterford Crystal drew the short straw and must travel to Cork on the weekend of January 3-4.

ESB Superleague action resumes this weekend following a brief hiatus which saw Notre Dame pick up the only league points of the last week.

Another victory for Neptune last weekend earned them a striking lead on the League table and with a home game against an off-form Limerick this weekend, they are likely to remain unbeaten for another week.

Unbeaten ESB Basketball Superleague side Sx3 Star have boosted their title challenge by signing a new American player ahead of their weekend game with struggling Dart Killester.

Unbeaten ESB Basketball Superleague side Sx3 Star have boosted their title challenge by signing a new American player ahead of their weekend game with struggling Dart Killester.

BASKETBALL’S ESB Cup champions BurgerKing Limerick will open their defence away to former champions St Vincent’s, now called Irish Travel Partners Saints, next month.

Sligo are back in Dublin this weekend when they play Big Al's Notre Dame. Seco Camera is back in action for Big Al's having recovered from an ankle injury.

It's make or break this weekend as the Cup battle for a final four spot hots up.

Weekend Basketball fixtures are as follows:

There are eight games in this weekend's ESB's Men's Superleague and seven games in the ESB Women's Superleague.