Eagles eye date with Killester
The University Arena was the setting for a tense quarter-final as Demons made the hazardous trip to Shannonside with the potential to cause an upset. And they were poised to do just that when they went into half-time leading 44-37. The third quarter proved critical as Eagles tightened their defence and drove the game forward to outscore the visitors 19-7.
That provided them with a cushion in the third quarter when Demons fought back to cut the deficit to four points and set up a thrilling finish. However, Eagles had too much in hand and deserved their 78-70 victory.
“We really upped our defensive game in the second quarter,” Eagles’ Irish international, Scott Kinevane, said. “We held them to just 26 points in the second half when Ciaran White and Rob Lynch did a great job on their American, Marcus Van.”
After ending DCU Saints’ promising SuperLeague run a week earlier, UCD Marian dumped their Dublin rivals out of the cup 81-65 on Saturday night to qualify for the cup semi-finals for the second successive season.
The result was not entirely unexpected but the scoreline reflected an exciting 18-point contribution from Dan James to underscore a performance that left coach Fran Ryan singing his praises.
“Dan James was absolutely superb,” he said. “He missed a few games through injury but it looks like he is over that now. Dan back is a big boost for us. Niall Meany, our captain, also had a great game. His spirit and his ability to keep playing to our system was another big factor.”
A bright start from Eoin Quill helped the Saints to a 17-13 lead at the end of the first quarter but Dan James hit back with 13 points to send Marian into the break leading 38-31.
Deirdre Brennan’s Ulster Elks finally produced the form they promised pre-season to stun Belfast Star 72-65 in yesterday’s derby and qualify for their first ever National Cup semi-final.
With Ben De La Cruz — who hit a game high 22 points — on form, Elks led 37-34 at half-time despite big scores from Star’s American, Clayton Longmire. Their defence was excellent in the third quarter and kept Star under wraps while Ciaran MacEvilly and Patrick McGahran landed the important baskets down the stretch for a famous win.
“It is a massive win for us in more ways than one, this was not just a cup fixture but the first time in history that we beat Star,” coach Brennan said.
“It was a good team performance overall and we are delighted to have got another win and have made history.”
Defending champions, DCU Mercy, ended UL’s interest in the Women’s SuperLeague National Cup with a 72-63 win after outscoring them 22-4 in the third quarter of their quarter-final clash at the DCU Sports Centre.
“I am very proud of my players,” said DCU coach, Mark Ingle. “Lisa Palmer and Suzanne Maguire had brilliant games, while Lindsey Peat was excellent in the first half. We had good contributions from the rest of the squad and it took a great team effort to win a game like this.
Team Montenotte Hotel Cork, who were going for three-in-a-row when they lost the final to DCU Mercy last season, proved that they are going to be a force to be reckoned with again when they scored an emphatic 63-39 quarter-final win over Meteors that left coach, Mark Scannell, singing their praises.
“We played really well,” he said. “I thought defensively we were superb. We worked very hard and held them to 39 points. Our bench was superb and it was a polished performance.”
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