Lakers fail to conquer Demons

Basketball Round-up: With their Irish contingent running the show, the UCC Demons hauled themselves to the top of the men's Superleague southern conference pile after cruising to a 97-71 victory over the Gleneagle Lakers over the weekend.

Mark Kennedy, Tim O'Halloran and Shane Coughlan were all to the fore as the students denied the Lakers their second victory of the campaign.

With out-of-form American import James Clinton sitting out most of the second half, the Demons raced into a 69-57 lead at the end of the third quarter. Torrey Butler was also in fine form, finishing on 28 points.

Any thoughts of Neptune having an easy run to retaining their title were rudely dispelled when they went down 86-84 against the Tralee Tigers.

Damond Williams proved to be the match winner, as his three-pointer in the dying seconds tipped the scales in the Kerry club's favour.

In the northern conference the early pacesetters are Dublin side Killester and MDS Star, as both sides recorded away victories in week two of the campaign.

Star turned around a half-time deficit of seven points thanks to the influence of John Leahy and Jo-Jo Chambers, who scored 29 points, to earn a 98-88 victory over Tolka Rovers. Killester enjoyed a 98-86 win over southside rivals UCD Marian.

Down the bottom end of the table things are already looking grim for Tolka Rovers and St Vincent's, who sunk to their second defeat, albeit on a 106-104 scoreline against Notre Dame.

In the women's Superleague the University of Limerick are the only team with a 100 per cent record after victory over Meteors at home.

However, Killester and Glanmire both stayed in touch. Glanmire overcame the Wildcats despite the excellent contribution of Nicole Conway, who finished with 23 points.

The game appeared to be out of reach when both American Adrianna Spears and captain Sarah Jane O'Connell fouled out of the game, but they persevered with Sarah Coakley and Marie Breen upping their performance.