InsureMyVan.ie Super League and Division 1 Round 1 wrap

Belfast Star began the defence of their InsureMyVan.ie Super League title with an 83-74 home defeat to UCD Marian at De La Salle. They also suffered a devastating injury to Aidan Quinn, who dislocated his knee six minutes before tip off.

Despite that hammer blow, Belfast Star led 40-37 at the break and had a four-point advantage (60-56) going into the final quarter, before UCD Marian powered home in the fourth quarter. Srdjan Stojanovic, who joined from Icelandic side Thor AK, top scored with 35 points, followed closely behind by Jonathan Jean, another summer recruit.

James Claar led Belfast Star’s scoring with 19, with Max Cooper adding 18, while Aidan’s brother, Conor Quinn, had 14. Speaking afterwards head coach Adrian Fulton said: “The only thing that matters right now is that Aidan Quinn makes a full recovery. A horrible injury unfortunately. UCD are an excellent team, very well coached and have a lot of talented and experienced players. I was very encouraged by a lot of what I saw from us today despite the loss. Disappointing to lose, given that we were right in the mix until the last 40 seconds. We have had a difficult pre-season, but we were much better today than we were last weekend in our first two pre-season games. I was delighted in particular with the performance of Conor Ryan and there were some good signs that we are moving in the right direction. The atmosphere was as electric as ever in La Salle and our supporters did their best to will us over the line. Every week is going to be a battle.”

UCD Marian head coach Josko Srzic added: “We are happy with a good win to start the season. We know there is a lot more work that we need to do, but winning in Belfast is always difficult and it’s a great start.”

Tradehouse Central Ballincollig impressed on their InsureMyVan.ie Super League debut, with a come from behind victory over local rivals C&S Neptune. C&S Neptune led at the end of each of the opening three quarters, before Kieran O’Sullivan’s men rallied in the final quarter to win 78-69. Milorad Sedlarevic had 24 points, while Andre Nation scored 19 points for the victors.

“We are used to these situations and we don’t overreact, defensively Andre (Nation), Dylan (Corkery) and Milorad (Sedlarevic) stepped up and gave fastbreak opportunities, we are thrilled to win our first game in Super League history”, O’Sullivan said.

DBS Éanna and Killester played out a tight contest, which went to overtime with the team’s level at 83 points apiece, before DBS Éanna managed to take the win 94-88. Their Serbian duo of Stefan Zecevic and Stefan Desnica had 14 points, as did Romonn Nelson. American Kason Harrel impressed for Killester with 23 points.

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors appear to have recruited well, American Aaron Calixte and Croatian Nikola Roso each had 21 points, while Latvian Ronalds Elksnis had 15 points in a 92-78 win over Team 360 Financial Killorglin. John Dowling, Tralee Warriors head coach says his new players have slotted in seamlessly. “We’re delighted with how they have adjusted, Aaron (Calixte) had foul trouble which held him back, so there is more to come from him for sure. They are great men, who want to improve and help in the basketball community, so we are delighted with them and look forward to seeing their progress.”

It was a tight contest in Galway, as NUIG Maree edged Moycullen 70-68. Croatian Lovre Tvrdic top scored for NUIG Maree with 18, while American Grant Olsson had 21 points in a losing effort for Moycullen.

Griffith College Templeogue won 84-61 at Bright DCU Saints, Lorcan Murphy headed the scoring with 18 points, new Spanish signing Enrique Melini grabbed 14 points and Jason Killeen chipped in with 12.

Griffith College Templeogue head coach Mark Keenan was pleased to pick up an opening day victory. “Great to get off to a good start and win against Bright DCU Saints. It was very important to get that first win away from home under our belt and now we can work on building on this momentum for our first home game next week against DBS Éanna.”

In the InsureMyVan.ie Division One both Drogheda Wolves and Grand Hotel Malahide started life in the National League with victories. Drogheda Wolves had a 82-70 success over Titans, while Grand Hotel Malahide had a 56-point win over LYIT Donegal, it finished 109-53.

UCC Demons, who are eight-time winners of the Super League, returned to the National League with a 87-59 win at Killarney Cougars. Head coach Daniel O’Mahony said: "I was really happy overall to get the first win of the season and go 1-0, We led for majority of the game and Cougars kept responding with good runs. I was really happy with how my guys stuck to our game plan and stuck together to get the job done. Overall, a good team performance with everyone contributing. We played really good at stages and also not so good at times, but we will learn and grow and from next week try improve."