BASKETBALL Ireland last night defended the decision to place Ballina Team Merry Monk in the Southern conference of the SuperLeague.

Mayo have been given a considerable boost ahead of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers with the return of Ballina midfielder Ronan McGarrity to the fold.

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

Merry Monk Ballina have booked their place in tomorrow’s SuperLeague semi-final after a closely run contest with National Cup Champions Abrakebabra Tigers at the UL Sports Arena this afternoon.

PLAY-OFF wins for UCC Demons over Shamrock Rovers Hoops and Merry Monk Ballina over Mustang Sallys/St Paul’s have cleared the way for an exciting weekend of basketball at the UL Arena.

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 are braced for a backlash in Ballina tomorrow night when they play Merry Monk in the 11th round of the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague.

MERRY MONK BALLINA put the finishing touches to what has been a good first half season with a 94-80 victory over troubled UCD Marian on Saturday night and this keeps them alongside HOOPS at the top of the table.

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.

WHAT a difference a year can make. Twelve months ago, the teams from the Southern Conference were dominating the NIVEA for Men Superleague but, after taking a hammering over the cross-conference weekend, a lot of them are heading into the first round of the cup this weekend with one eye on the back door.

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.

AFTER losing to Abrakebabra Tigers in the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague on Saturday night, Limerick Lions cemented their play-off hopes with a comforting 95-71 victory over UCD at UL Arena yesterday.

Carna Transport Mercy 73 Vienna Woods Glanmire 64

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.

NEPTUNE needed to beat the Tigers to keep alive any hope of making the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague quarter-finals in March and they eventually did by the narrowest of margins.

UCC Demons 118 Merry Monk Ballina 101

Roma St Vincents 85 Neptune 90

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.

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.

LUKE O’HEA led the charge as Tralee made their title intentions clear by beating UCD 126-119 over the weekend.

Ballina 99 UCC Demons 112

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.

NEPTUNE and Shamrock Rovers Hoops have each won basketball’s most coveted prize - the National Cup - four times but tomorrow night they will be battling to stay in this year’s competition at Neptune Stadium.

Tralee side Abrakebabra Tigers will face Merry Monk Ballina missing several key players in the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague this weekend.

Roma St Vincent's 97 MDS Star 72

The Mardyke Arena saw an enthralling contest as Mardyke UCC Demons took on defending champions Abrakebara Tigers in the Men’s SuperLeague.