Colin O’Reilly has laid down a challenge to players hopeful of making the Men’s Premier League All-Star team competing at the Sino-European Championships in July.

Basketball: C&S UCC Demons’ unbeaten record in the Men’s Premier League remains intact following their 88-74 win over second-placed Travelodge Swords Thunder at the weekend.

C&S UCC Demons 91 UCD Marian 65: Men’s National Cup Final: ONE supporter summed it up as "hard to beat class" and few at the National Arena were inclined to disagree after this emphatic victory for UCC Demons in the Men’s National Cup final.

Mens National Cup Final

The eve of another cup final weekend and with it a sense of history about it for those of us steeped in Irish hoops, writes Kieran Shannon.

The closing weekend of the National Basketball Championships will begin this evening with the men’s Champions Trophy semi-finals at Neptune Stadium.

It was a typical lunchtime at the Mardyke Arena for UCC Demons’ American Kenton Walker as he prepared to go through his daily workout with coach Paul Kelleher.

Tonight

A magnificent exhibition of shooting from Bord Gáis Neptune point guard Gary Walsh helped his side qualify for the final of the Mens SuperLeague national cup final.

The protracted saga of the hunt for a new manager of Limerick will finally end later this week when Stuart Taylor is unveiled as the successor to Pat Scully.

UCC Demons 68 Bord Gais Neptune 66

It’s a 46-year intense rivalry that has made UCC Demons and Bord Gais Neptune one of the most spectacular games on the Irish basketball calendar.

DCU Saints 72 UCC Demons 81

Bord Gais Neptune 72 UCC Demons 74

Priory Hall residents will mark four months out of their homes with a protest march tomorrow to highlight the legal limbo in which they are trapped.

Mark Scannell has had some close-ups of UCC Demons during his first term as coach to Bord Gáis Neptune before tonight’s National Cup final against UL Eagles at the National Basketball Arena and he believes Demons are “hot favourites” to win.

UCC DEMONS overwhelmed neighbours Bord Gáis Neptunefor the second time in three weeks to qualify for the final of the National Cup on an 84-66 scoreline as the third derby game of the season brought the curtain down on an action-packed weekend of cup action in Cork.

THREE Munster SuperLeague clubs are through to the semi-finals of the National Cup while defending champions, UCD Marian, and the league leaders, DCU Saints are out.

REIGNING champions, 11890 Killester, got their defence of the Nivea for Men SuperLeague title back on track on Saturday night with an emphatic 100-86 win over UCC Demons.

UCC DEMONS halted DCU Saints’ spectacular run in the Nivea for Men SuperLeague with an impressive 76-65 victory in a cross-conference clash at the Ongar Community Centre.

HOMEOWNERS evacuated from the Priory Hall apartment complex after it was deemed a fire hazard have been offered temporary accommodation in NAMA-held properties.

BORD GAIS NEPTUNE, the most decorated team in the Nivea for Men SuperLeague, qualified for the semi-finals of the current competition with an 83-69 victory over old rivals, DCU Saints, while Belfast Star pulled off the shock of the play-offs in the form of a dramatic two-point victory over UCC Demons yesterday afternoon.

UCC DEMONS may have to plan without influential captain Shane Coughlan for Sunday’s NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague play-off with Belfast Star at the Mardyke Arena.

DERBY games hold special places in team sports and in Irish basketball they don’t come any bigger than the clashes between UCC Demons and Bord Gáis Neptune which punctuate the annual NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague programme.

OSCAR POWER was just two years old when he suffered a severe stroke which left him unable to walk.

UCC DEMONS are next in line to attempt to break 11890 Killester’s stranglehold on the Nivea for Men Superleague, but they will have to do it without the services of Niall O’Reilly when they host the defending champions at The Mardyke Arena on Sunday.

A BLUNDER by Longford keeper Stephen Conlon proved costly as Longford Town fell to their sixth defeat of the season.

UL EAGLES, with the Southern Conference title all wrapped up, will host Belfast Star this weekend in advance of the upcoming NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague play-offs.

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.

TEAM effort was the key as UCC Demons saw off DCU Saints, 86-71, to get their defence of their SuperLeague National Cup off to the perfect start at The Mardyke Arena yesterday.

CORK derby games in particular are special but last night’s NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague thriller between UCC Demons and National Event Hire Neptune went beyond all the boundaries for excitement, drama and then a nailbiting finish.

DEFENDING champions, UCC Demons, had to come from behind to defeat UCD/Marian and keep their early season record intact as the NIVEA for MEN SuperLeague as UL Eagles beat the other Cork team, Neptune for a third successive win.

THE news that Luke D’Alessio had been appointed head coach of UCC Demons caused a stir throughout the basketball world.

A teenager who was allegedly videoed on a camera phone by his accomplice during a violent mugging of a 15-year-old boy was remanded on conditional bail today pending the preparation of a book of evidence.

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.

IT may have done precious little to ease the disappointment of their cup final defeat two weeks earlier, but UCC Demons handed Abrakebabra Tigers a clear warning that their Nivea for Men SuperLeague ambitions could be under threat when they visited the Mardyke Arena yesterday afternoon.

Abrakebabra Tigers 85 UCC Demons 70

KIERAN O’BRIEN, a product of Noel Allen’s underage programme, last night turned in the most important 11 minutes of his career as he powered his club to a vital NIVEA for Men SuperLeague derby victory over UCC Demons at The Mardyke Arena.

WITH seven faces missing from last season’s National Cup winning side, UCC Demons travel to Newcastle tomorrow to play the BBL champions, Newcastle Eagles, in a pre-season friendly that should leave coach Pat Price with a good idea of what lies ahead of him before the new season tips off on October 6.

A 17-year-old father of two, who took part in the theft of a woman’s wallet as she walked along Dublin’s Dawson Street, has been detained for four months.

After the conclusion of open trials for locally-based players, seven players from the NIVEA for Men SuperLeague have been invited to join the senior men’s national squad in July.