THE Nivea for Men SuperLeague comes to a conclusion today with Limerick side UL Eagles going head-to-head with National Cup champions Killester at the National Basketball Arena.

UCC DEMONS travel to Dublin this weekend in defence of their Men’s National Cup on the back of two SuperLeague defeats but that statistic will have no bearing on what promises to be an intriguing final.

ON every great team there is the player who picks up the pieces and has the ability to make things happen; the ones who suddenly appear out of nowhere when the going gets tough.

KIERAN DONAGHY had his first full training session with defending champions Abrakebabra Tigers in Tralee on Tuesday but coach Mark Bernsen does not expect him to play a part in their opening Nivea for Men Superleague game at home to UCD Marian on Saturday night.

DART Killester 95 Merry Monk Ballina 90

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

ABRAKEBABRA Tigers will have Wilder Auguste in the line-up when they chase the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague title in Limerick this weekend — and Tralee coach Dave Falvey is hoping that Kieran Donaghy may show up for their semi-final against Merry Monk Ballina tomorrow.

The penultimate weekend of the Nivea For Men SuperLeague approaches and it's all to play for at the top of the North and South Conferences.

ABRAKEBABRA TIGERS will renew rivalry with St. Vincent’s in the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague clash at Tralee tomorrow night but they will be without Micheál Quirke who was the star when they beat the Dubliners in a thrilling cup semi-final a month ago.

BOTH the Abrakebabra Tigers coach Dave Falvey, and the Limerick Lions coach Tom Hehir were left holding their heads in disbelief after Tigers had snatched an 89-92 victory and the vital NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague points on the buzzer at UL Arena yesterday afternoon.

ABRAKEBABRA Tigers will include Kieran Donaghy when they host DART Killester in the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague at the Tralee Sports Complex tomorrow night.

NEPTUNE coach Sasa Punosevac feels they can spring a surprise when they travel to Clontarf tomorrow night to play his old club, DART Killester, in the SuperLeague Cup qualifier.

There are three second-round games in the SuperLeague National Cup this weekend with a place in the quarter-finals of the competition at stake.

THE battle for National Cup glory reaches the penultimate stage this weekend when the semi-finals will be decided, with the focus on the National Basketball Arena where the men and women of the SuperLeague will face intriguing ties on Sunday afternoon.

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.

AFTER an amazing weekend that saw Neptune overwhelmed by DART Killester and Mardyke UCC Demons lose an apparently unassailable lead before fighting back to beat UCD, the pairings for next weekend’s semi-finals of the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague have been decided with Abrakebabra Tigers from Tralee and Roma St. Vincent’s already qualified.

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.

MDS STAR and Dart Killester set the scene for a crunch ESB SuperLeague tie in Dublin on Thursday night with cross-conference victories over Neptune and BurgerKing, respectively, at the weekend.

TRALEE’s Horan Healthfood Tigers preserved their 100% Superleague record in dramatic and controversial circumstances at the weekend.

THE spotlight will be on the SuperLeague table toppers Notre Dame and Sx3 Star when the semi-finals of the ESB National Cup get under way at the ESB Arena this afternoon.

TOMORROW week Notre Dame and Mardyke UCC Demons will face up to each other in what promises to be a spectacular ESB National Cup semi-final but the respective coaches will be bidding to put that at the back of their minds as they face into critical SuperLeague engagements.

Irish coach Gerry Fitzpatrick has announced the squad that will line out against Cyprus for Ireland's last home game of the current European Championships series.

HEAD coach of the Irish basketball team, Gerry Fitzpatrick, has announced his squad for next week’s friendly against England and the European Championship semi-final round games against Germany, Croatia and former Macedonia (FYROM).

National team coach Gerry Fitzpatrick has named a panel of 17 for Ireland's European Men's Basketball Championship games next month.

NEPTUNE fans will be treated to a preview of the first round of the National Cup when Sx3 Star come to Neptune Stadium on Sunday for an ESB Super League tie, as the sides will meet for their cup clash at the same venue a week later.

There are changes to the ESB men’s Superleague schedule this weekend to allow senior internationals, Damien Sealy and Adrian Fulton join the Irish team in Germany on Sunday