Double blow for St Vincent's

BASKETBALL: While Star of the Sea maintain their grip on the leadership of the ESB Superleague, UCD Marian dealt St Vincent's their second blow of the weekend by defeating them 86-83 yesterday afternoon.

After an impressive run in recent weeks, the back-to-back defeats for St Vincent's almost certainly rules them out of league contention. UCD's Jamie Kendrick made the difference for the home team, coming alive in the second half of the game to score 21 of his 27 points.

That result followed the 100-80 defeat at the hands of Notre Dame earlier in the weekend. Notre Dame were always in control, with Brandon Hughes' 13 first- quarter points helping to give the home side a 30-16 lead.

For the visitors, Dave Donnelly led the way with eight points. Still, St Vincent's found themselves 51 to 38 down at the half, with Notre Dame opening brightly again in the third and pushing their lead out to 20 points.

Neptune, in contrast, managed to keep their title hopes alive by defeating Killester 77-76 in a last gasp basket from Stephen McCarthy.

Neptune opened up an early lead, leading 20-13 at the end of the first quarter, but Killester broke into the game in the second quarter and ensured a tight contest until the end.