Waterford go to the top

Yet more shifting at the top of the ESB Superleague has now seen Waterford take over possession of pole position, but not before a hard game on Saturday night with fellow league title-chasers UCD Marian.

In the end Waterford won out 87-77, thanks mainly to a superb third-quarter fight back. Former Irish international Neville Charles had his best game in a while and helped UCD Marian to a 44-33 lead midway through the second period.

But Waterford's league-leading defence soon stopped the rot. With James Singleton in sparkling form, the home side played some excellent and crowd-pleasing basketball to cut the gap to just six points at half-time.

They then outscored Marian 27-19 in the final quarter to take the all-important win.

Neptune saw their title ambitions suffer a little with the 105-103 loss to St Vincent's. It required a strong second-half game from the Dublin club, as they trailed by 12 points at the break, while junior men's star Colin O'Reilly impressed for Neptune.

Mike Trimmer then began to exert a presence on the defensive and offensive boards for St Vincent's, and though Neptune fought back again, Stephen McGuirk and David Donnelly combined well to pull the Dubliners into a five-point lead going into the final 20 seconds of the game. O'Reilly hit a three-pointer right on the buzzer to cut it to a two-point game, but Vincent's held on for the win.

Elsewhere, the Demons keep their foot on the leaders thanks to a 78-72 win away to Notre Dame. Brian Clernon proved to be the big difference there, hitting two crucial three-pointers in quick succession at the end of the third quarter to give Demons the upper hand going into the final quarter.

Sligo almost pulled off the comeback of the weekend and then closed down a 15-point deficit in the third quarter against Tralee to bring it back to a one-point game with 14 seconds remaining.

But they just could not produce the basket needed to secure their fourth win of the season and went down 88-87.

In the women's league, Elke Schneider scored on the buzzer in her last game for Tolka Rovers to force over-time against Meteors, and to keep the drama alive Nicola Farrell was fouled on the buzzer of extra-time.

With no time left on the clock, the former UL star scored two freethrows to give the 2000 champions a vital win and keep them on the heels of reigning champions Wildcats, who won at Glanmire.

In the NBA, Kevin Garnett, Wally Szczerbiak and Joe Smith posted double-doubles in the Minnesota Timberwolves' 103-95 win over the Orlando Magic. Garnett had 21 points and 16 rebounds, while Szczerbiak added 20 and 14 boards. Smith scored 21 and swept 11 rebounds.