DEFENDING champions UCC Demons will face Roma St. Vincent’s in the first semi-final of the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague at The Mardyke Arena next Saturday afternoon while Merry Monk Ballina will contest the other place in the final with Limerick Lions.

Carna Transport Mercy and Vienna Woods Glanmire today earned the right to face each other in the Women's SuperLeague final next Sunday.

WITH UCC Demons and Merry Monk Ballina waiting in the wings, the battle for the remaining semi-final places in the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague reaches a climax tomorrow night, when Limerick Lions host DART Killester and Killarney’s Gleneagle Lakers travel to Dublin to play Roma St Vincent’s.

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.

LIMERICK Lions coach Tom Hehir will be asking his players for an extra effort against high-flying UCC Demons in their final NIVEA for Men SuperLeague regular game of the season at the Mardyke tonight.

DART Killester 91 UCC Demons 92

WITH just five weeks to the final shake-up, Limerick Lions will host defending champions UCC Demons in a mouth-watering NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague clash at UL Arena tomorrow night.

NEWLY crowned Cup champions UCC Demons and beaten finalists Limerick Lions remain locked at the top of the Southern Conference table in the run-up to next weekend’s head to head following important victories in the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague yesterday.

UCC DEMONS will have the national cup on parade when they play host to Roma St. Vincent’s at The Mardyke Arena on Sunday afternoon, but Pat Price’s squad will have other things on their mind as they brace themselves for a furious run up to the play-off stages in defence of the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague title.

THE happenings of last weekend rendered the formbook for tomorrow’s Men’s SuperLeague Cup Final meaningless.

MICHAEL EVANS embarks on one of the most difficult assignments in Irish basketball tomorrow night when he sends Neptune out against Roma St Vincent’s in the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague at Glasnevin hoping to stem the flood that has threatened to submerge the Cork side this season.

UCC Demons 100 Limerick Lions 84

Limerick Lions 105 Gleneagle Lakers 91

LIMERICK Lions could be playing UCC Demons in a top of the table clash at The Mardyke Arena on Monday afternoon - that’s if they beat Gleneagle Lakers at UL Arena tomorrow night.

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.

PAT GLOVER should be playing for UCD against Limerick tomorrow night in the quarter-final of the Superleague Men’s National Cup, but will now be courtside bidding to halt their recent run of poor results.

UCD, after a string of defeats in the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague have sacked coach Mark Keenan days before their SuperLeague Cup quarter-final with Limerick Lions.

ABRAKEBABRA TIGERS released their second American during the week, so Joe Quirke will be banking on his Irish players when the club host UCC Demons in the Nivea for Men SuperLeague this weekend.

DEFENDING Cup champions Abrakebabra Tigers will meet reigning SuperLeague champions, UCC Demons in the quarter-final of the Men’s National Cup.

PATRICK POPE, winner of a Nivea for Men SuperLeague medal with UCC Demons last season, appears to have come to the rescue of Merry Monk Ballina, judging by his performance against Shamrock Hoops on Saturday night.

WHEN they met in the very first SuperLeague game of the season, UCC Demons trounced neighbours Neptune by a whopping 48 points.

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.

TWO weeks after their humiliating 31-point drubbing in Tralee, Abrakebabra Tigers travel to Cork tonight in search of revenge from defending Superleague champions, UCC Demons.

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.

UCC Demons and Neptune clashed recently in the opening game of the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague and, astonishingly, Neptune, playing at home, went down by a massive 48 points.

LIMERICK Lions hammered out a sensational 94-83 victory over UCC Demons as defending champions Abrakebabra Tigers kept their title hopes intact with a two point victory over Merry Monk Ballina when the SuperLeague Men’s National Cup got underway at the weekend.

UCD secured a SuperLeague Cup quarterfinal place tonight as they took a home victory over Neptune.

LIMERICK Lions are aiming for a hat-trick of away victories tomorrow night as they travel to Cork to play UCC Demons in the first round of the SuperLeague Men’s National Cup.

DART KILLESTER let things slip literally in double overtime on Saturday night as they forfeited a very tight encounter with Neptune in basketball’s Men’s Superleague.

AFTER last weekend’s drubbing by UCC Demons, Neptune will set about putting the pieces back together this weekend with a new coach and two new American players, although they will not be certain until later today if former Gleneagle Lakers star Dajan Smith will be available for tomorrow night’s Nivea for Men SuperLeague clash with DART Killester.

It is a big weekend for Merry Monk Ballina, who play two home games as week two of the Nivea for Men SuperLeague gets underway.

IT MAY be the first game of the season, but when Neptune and Mardyke UCC Demons launch the new Nivea for Men SuperLeague at Neptune Stadium tonight (8pm), expect fireworks.

Brendan Mooney

Brendan Mooney

There will be a new name on the National cup this year after Abrakebabra Tigers knocked the reigning cup champions UCC Mardyke Demons in the semi-final at the ESB Arena yesterday.

ON A weekend when three of the four cup semi-finalists tasted defeat a week before Cup final weekend, Limerick Lions got their challenge for the NIVEA SuperLeague play-off spot back on track with a sensational 107-98 home victory over Mardyke UCC Demons.

AFTER the excitement of the senior men’s cup last weekend some clubs will be searching through the debris over the coming days to see if they can salvage anything.

The draw for the semi-finals of basketball's men's National Cup took place today and pits reigning cup holders Mardyke UCC Demons against SuperLeague champions and Southern Conference table toppers, Abrakebabra Tigers.

ABRAKEBABRA Tigers overwhelmed DART Killester - 111 to 88 - to send three Munster teams through to the semi-finals of the National Cup on what was a great weekend for basketball in the province.

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.