Christmas celebrations on the double for Demons
On Friday night they secured Nivea for Men SuperLeague bragging rights with an impressive victory over Cork rivals Neptune.
Yesterday they came to the capital and ruthlessly crushed Shamrock Rovers Hoops 117-97 at the National Basketball Arena.
Hoops started brightly and with Ciarán Whyte impressive, they lead 53-51 at the break. But they failed to build on that good showing in the third, missing numerous chances and allowing the Cork side to grab a 10- point lead heading into the fourth.
Demons upped the intensity with a full court press and doubled their lead to 20 points. Colin O'Reilly, Michael Doles and Gary Johnson were the chief scoring threats with a combined 65 points.
It was a pretty miserable end to a miserable weekend for Hoops as they crashed to a four-point loss to DART Killester on Saturday night.
Adding insult to injury, that margin was the precise tally which the winners put on the board from three technical fouls given for undisciplined comments to the referees.
DART settled quickly and sprang into a lead through Sealy and Tomic who had eight points apiece, while Quigley, Westbrooks and O'Brien added seven between them. "Big Will" McClurkin hit eight, Ruben Statum had five and Ian Cathcart had four for the Hoops.
The sides were level on 34 apiece at the break and the Hoops continued to have the edge in the third quarter, leading by 48 to 47 ahead of the final phase.
The game was set for a grandstand finish but early in the quarter Whyte was called for an offensive foul, threw the ball away in disgust and promptly picked up his fifth foul.
The losers began to self-destruct as a call for an "unsportsmanlike" foul on Lennie added to their misery.
Despite these setbacks the Hoops stayed with their opponents and it was a four-point game with a minute to go. A coach 'T' however, gifted Sealy the chance to seal the game.
There was heartbreak too for MDS Star, who were pipped 80-82 by Merry Monk Ballina. The Mayo side lead 45-40 at the half time break. Then Star fell 18 behind in the third before tying the game in the last 20 seconds following a tremendous zone press.
But it was not to be for the home side as Deora Marsh missed with a 15ft jumper with six seconds to go, but Pellerin grabbed the rebound and scored on the buzzer.
There was some good news for UCD, who ended a six-game losing sequence with victory over Killester.
But it was not without some drama. Killester led by 56-62 heading into the fourth but UCD, led by Lufkin and Glover, stormed out for a five-point win (83-78).
In the Women's SuperLeague there were wins for DART Killester, Bausch & Lomb Wildcats and Carna Transport Mercy. The latter's 109-59 win over Oblate Dynamos was an emotional affair as it was the final game for the victors' star player Jolie McKiernan ahead of a move to The Netherlands. On leaving the court, she received a standing ovation from both sets of fans a fitting tribute to a tremendous talent.
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