National League

Oct 17 2024

Preview: Men's Super League Week 3

At least one team will lose their undefeated tag in week three of the Men’s Super League when Griffith College Éanna and Flexachem KCYMS meet in a top of the table clash in Coláiste Éanna.

The defending champions have been dealing with the absence of Irish international Sean Jenkins to start the season admirably, taking out Bright St.Vincent’s and Maree in last weekend’s back to back to join Garvey’s Tralee Warriors and this weekend’s opponents as the early season pace setters.

This will be the biggest test of Flexachem KCYMS’s championship credentials so far. Their wins have come against teams (UCD Marian, EJ Sligo All-Stars and Templeogue) that are a combined 1-7 to start the year. A win on the road for Declan Wall’s team will signal them as contenders to the rest of the league. A third successive triple-double for Irish international Jordan Blount will go a long way towards achieving that goal.

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors will be favourites to extend their winning run to four when they travel to the capital to take on UCD Marian. An impressive first-half of shooting set them up for success against another Dublin side, Killester in their most recent outing. 22-year-old Rapolas Buivydas enjoyed a breakout game, scoring a game high 23 points. On the opposite end, Ioannis Liapakis has as expected, made UCD Marian competitive on their return to the top-flight. He will be anxious thought that they start turning performances into wins soon, least they get cut adrift at the foot of the table.

Energywise Ireland Neptune could move as high as third in the table if they overcome winless Templeogue in Neptune Stadium on Saturday. Croatian signing Jaksa Sola has hit the ground running for head coach Pat Price, leading the team in scoring against UCD a week ago. Despite their difficult start to the campaign, Mark Keenan might have unearthed a gem for Templeogue in Tavias Fagan. The 24-year-old, who arrived from the University of Mississippi leads the Men’s Super League in scoring, with his co-star for the Dubliners Immanuel Allen sitting third in the charts. They will need another huge performance from that pair if they’re to get of the mark in Cork.

A repeat of the 2022/23 Men’s Super League final kicks-off Saturday’s action at 4pm on basketballireland.tv. Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU and Maree BC split their two meetings last season and another close encounter is on the cards here. The Cork side appear to be still finding their feet under Spanish coach Antonio Lopez but picked up a much-needed win in overtime against Belfast Star in week two. Jarett Haines was dominant in his first appearances for Maree since the aforementioned title game, averaging 29-points and 6-assists as they went 1-1 against Killester and Griffith College Éanna respectively on double-game weekend.

Elsewhere, Rafi Olmassakian’s extra shooting practices will need to have the desired effect if his Belfast Star side are to start turning their season around against UCC Demons in New Forge. The Lebanese felt his side “gave the game away” against Ballincollig. They can’t afford to make the same mistake on home court this Saturday. Successive wins over UCD Marian and Bright St. Vincent’s sent Demons fans back to Cork happy from their two day road trip in week two. Another win her will put them in the mix with the top four in the Men’s Super League standings.

The weekend’s final game has EJ Sligo All-Stars looking to move to 2-1 against a Killester team aiming to bounce back from successive defeats. Sligo came out on top when the sides last met in the Mercy Gym and with former Ireland captain John Carroll showing what he’s capable of in their win over Ballincollig in their home opener, the home crowd will be looking for more of the same in a packed gym on Saturday night.