BASKETBALL WEEKEND PREVIEW:UCC DEMONS open the defence of their Men's SuperLeague National Cup crown at home to in-form DCU Saints this weekend.
The Cork giants will be keen to atone for last Sunday’s shock 89-80 loss at home to Hoops, a result which brought an end to the club’s phenomenal 29-game unbeaten run.
“The Saints are a talented team with a deep bench,” said Demons head coach Luke D’Alessio.
“They are a very physical and intelligent group, which plays hard every game. With a record of 5-1, they will be tough competition and we must start the game with the intensity I know we need to win.”
Saints travel to the famous Mardyke Arena in confident mood after an excellent start to the season which has included just one defeat in their first six games.
“Demons have a fantastic pedigree in the cup and will have a real partisan crowd behind them at the weekend,” said Saints coach Vinny O’Keefe.
“Demons don’t need too many reasons to motivate themselves but the fact that they lost to Hoops last weekend will make it all the tougher.”
Meanwhile, Hoops, who earned their first win of 2009 in last weekend’s clash away to Demons, open their cup account away to Moycullen.
“It was a great win against Demons,” said Hoops guard Joey Haastrup. “We travel to Galway with belief and we know we are capable of producing results like the one against Demons.
“The other way of looking at it is that Moycullen are also looking for their first win of the season but we don’t want to be on the receiving end this time around. It’s important we build on the win over Demons and prove consistent.”
In the Nivea For Men’s SuperLeague, Killester will be keen to atone for last weekend’s loss to UCD/Marian when they host a Belfast side reeling after two successive defeats.
“It’s a wake-up call,” said Killester’s Irish international Paddy Kelly.
“We didn’t play our style of basketball against UCD/Marian.
“We play the likes of Star, UCC Demons and UL Eagles this month so we just have to put last weekend behind us and get back on a winning run.”
