Basketball Ireland round-up

UCC Demons got their Nivea For Men's SuperLeague title defence off to a winning start with a win over league newcomers Moycullen, while a rejuvenated Belfast Star inflicted defeat on UCD/Marian.

On Saturday, Killester continued their 100% start to the season at the expense of Neptune and UL Eagles also remain unbeaten after inflicting a 32 point defeat on HOOPS.

UCC Demons opened their 2009/10 account with a 79-69 win over Moycullen to give their new Head Coach Luke D'Alessio a winning start.

'It is important to start with a win but we didn't play well for the whole game,' said D'Alessio. 'We have a lot of new guys and there is going to be a period of adjustment. We had only player from last year starting so we are still getting used to each other.

'Niall Murphy (who got 24 points) got hurt towards the end but Moycullen deserve credit for coming back at us,' he added. 'There was some indecision about our shooting but this will improve over the next few weeks.'

The visitor's trailed by just a solitary point at the break with Cian Nihill in particularly fine form, ending up with a tally of 27 points.

Killester head coach Mark Keenan paid tribute to the scoring prowess of his team after they managed a 94-84 success at home to Neptune.

Five players managed to reach double figures on the scoring front with Jermaine Turner reaching the top of the pile with 31 points.

'It was great to see five players in double figures and Jermaine had a big influence at both ends of the court. Jermaine provided some excellent assists for Michael Westbrooks, while Paddy (Kelly) was in great form.

'It is a good start to the season,' he added. 'We had a slow start to the game but came good in the second quarter. Neptune were really up for the game and made it difficult for us. There is a lot of improvement to be made in the weeks ahead.'

Neptune produced a competitive display, trailing by just six points at the break (45-39) with Juwann James impressing in his debut in the SuperLeague with 31 points.

UL Eagles are another side making a fine start to the season with their second success in a row coming at home to HOOPS on a thumping 92-60 scoreline.

The visitor's started the brighter and lead 22-20 at the end of the first quarter but Tony Hehir's UL charges responded in the second and third quarter largely due to their strong defence.

They managed to hold their Dublin counterparts to 12 points in the second quarter and a paltry five in the third. With 10 minutes to go UL Eagles led by a massive 73-39 and there was no way back for the Dublin outfit.

Hoops had solid performances from Carlton Aaron (17), Phil Taylor (12) and Ian Wilson (8). UL Eagles had big performances from their entire bench led by Stuart Robbins (17), Matt Hall (15), Scott Kinevane (15), with Lynch, King and Campbell all hitting eight each.

Meanwhile, Belfast Star enjoyed their second consecutive victory with three points to spare over UCD/Marian (75-72).

Grenada born Philip Perre once again impressed for the Belfast club with 25 points, while Luke McCrone's 18 point tally was unable to save UCD/Marian from their second loss in four days.

Star always looked in control, leading by a massive 19 points at the break to ensure they followed on from their surprise success away to Ulster Elks last weekend.