Pope proves a blessing as Merry Monk complete quick double

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.

His 41 points made a major contribution to Ballina’s 120-111 victory, although he was outscored by Hoops’ Reuben Statum, who popped 45.

Pope was again Ballina’s leading scorer yesterday when they entertained Roma St Vincent’s at the Sports Centre, but this time they lost by nine points in bidding for what would have been three wins in a row over the Dubliners.

Pope made a sensational debut against Hoops on Saturday night when they took an early lead through their big Canadian Evan Pellerin, led 32-30 at the end of the first quarter and were 10 points clear at half time.

Pope hit three three-pointers in the third quarter, Ronan McGarrity landed two more and they were in an unassailable position with a 19-point lead going into the final quarter.

They may have been feeling the effects of those exertions when they faced St Vincent’s.

This was a tight game throughout, with no more than five or six points between the sides.

Vincent’s led by four at the break and finished the stronger with Turner, Pero and Emmet Donnelly forcing the pace as they won 109-100.

That was the second win of the weekend for St Vincent’s, who beat MDS Star 93-67 on Friday night with Jermaine Turner earning 21 points in the first quarter alone.

DART Killester showed great character in a winning fight-back against UCD that earned them an 87-78 victory.

Gleneagle Lakers made the long trek north to play MDS Star but a 110-92 victory made it worthwhile and ended what was another hugely disappointing weekend for Star, who’d been hoping to build on their win over UCD a week earlier.

Three points separated the sides at half time but then Shane Horgan came up with four three-pointers in the last quarter to put paid to any hopes Star had of a fighting finish.

They must now regroup to face Shamrock Rovers Hoops in the SuperLeague Cup next Saturday night.

Mark Scannell had to plan without an American when Vienna Woods Glanmire hosted Carna Transport Coolock at Little Island on Saturday night in the Women’s SuperLeague top of the table clash, but he was thrilled with the performance and the 79-70 victory which reinforces their position.

Glanmire got off to the perfect start, storming into a 15-point lead by half time thanks to big games from Fahey, Walsh and Leahy. They increased their lead to 20 early in the third quarter but they got a fright from Coolock in the final quarter as they cut the margin to just three points. Two free throws from Walsh, followed by two more foul shots and an outside shot from Fahey put them back on track.

Mustang Sally’s St Paul’s recorded another home win in Killarney, where they beat Oblate Dynamos 64-58.

They led by 11 points at half time, withstood a third quarter rally that cut the deficit to just two points and after the game was level at 51 points apiece in the final quarter they came out best in an exciting finish when two from Petterson and three from Jones restored their lead.