Weekend basketball round-up

On Sunday, UCC Demons' tipped off their SuperLeague National Cup campaign by edging out DCU Saints 86-71.

Spectators got their fill as the game continued neck and neck until Demons took the upper hand halfway through the third quarter.

Head coach Luke D'Alessio was extremely pleased with his side's effort.

'We played great defence today and were able to substitute a lot of our bench players who worked hard,' stated D'Alessio.

'Being able to have a nine-man rotation allowed us to take them out of their game a bit.'

On Saturday, the Hoops booked their place in the quarter-finals at the expense of Moycullen, with a superb performance from USA powerhouse Carlton Aaron who netted 48 points.

Despite an even scoreline at half-time, Hoops were backed by the confidence of the surprise win from their last clash away to UCC Demons.

'It was a tough, scrappy game,' admitted coach Ahmad Smith.

'Both teams had to get themselves going and it was messy but we managed to get a win.'

Hoops were down in the fourth quarter by as much as ten points with six minutes to go, but Smith believed both American standout Carlton Aaron and guard Joey Haastrup played the biggest roles in stepping up.

'Haastrup played a really great game,' said Smith.

'When we were down he drained some important shots that brought us back up.

'Obviously Carlton Aaron had an outstanding game. With him in the middle of the post he was hard to guard and Moycullen kept fouling and sending our side to the free-throw line. Having him in the post really helped us out on the boards.'

Moycullen's standout player Cian Nihill was in top form, netting 21 points in the defeat but the sharp-shooter was a player that Smith was worried about.

'Nihill is a tough player and we wanted to take him out of his game,' added Smith.

'He was still able to find a way to score and we knew that if he kept going, he is very hard to stop.'

In the only Nivea For Men's SuperLeague game of the weekend, Killester sailed past a visiting Belfast Star on a 95-75 scoreline.
With four of Killester's players scoring in double digits, coach Mark Keenan didn't believe the scoreline reflected the actual game.
'It was a sloppy first half and then we turned it around in the second half which I think was more to the style we are supposed to play,' asserted Keenan.

'But it was important for us to get a win and get back a positive vibe going.'

Killester allowed Star a whopping 31 points in the first quarter and 46 points before the half-time buzzer. The third quarter witnessed a rejuvenated home team that came out with more intensity on the defensive end and held the Northern club to only 29 points for the entire second half.