St. Vincent’s upset Belfast Star to end unbeaten run in Domino's Men's Super League

St. Vincent’s shocked Belfast Star with a 93-86 win to end Belfast’s undefeated start to the Domino’s Men’s Super League.

Jaylyn Richardson took control down the stretch with 15 of his 23 points coming in the second half, including six points inside the final minute, to give Vincent’s their third victory of the season to go seventh in the table. Rapolas Buivydas kept up his player of the month form for Star with 25 points in 29 minutes, along with 8 rebounds. Shane Bell and Roger Wilson both had double-doubles for the away side, but ultimately fell short to go 6-1 for the season. Despite the loss, they remain top of the table for the time being, with another slate of games to come on Sunday afternoon.

UCD Marian defeated Limerick Celtics 105-104 after triple overtime in Oatlands College. Marian started strong in the first quarter, but still entered the second period down two to Limerick. As the second period wore on, UCD started to gain control and had a ten-point lead at half-time. In the second-half Marian made as much as a 16-point gap to Celtics, but a late run from Celtics through Zachery Hudson and AJ Williams managed to force overtime in Dublin.

Both sides only managed two points apiece in the first overtime period, as it entered another overtime. With a 13-13 OT2, it went to one final extra period to decide the thriller in Dublin. Finn Hughes and Zachery Hudson both had 28 points across the game for Celtics, but it was Marian’s Tanner Graham, who had 36 points and 16 boards and an efficiency of 41, who led the Dublin side to victory. Joshua Reynolds added 21 for UCD Marian with 21-year-old Sean Fitzpatrick nailing the winning free throws after seven periods of action. The win for Marian sees them enter the top five and get to a winning record of 4-3. For Celtics, the loss leaves them at 2-5 for the season and in a tough spot in the run-in to Christmas.

On Friday night, Ballincollig secured an 85-82 triumph over Garvey’s Tralee Warriors to go fourth in the table. Latrell Jossell and Latavious Mitchell continued their team-leading performances, combining for 48 of the 85 points for Ballincollig, with Mitchell also adding 14 rebounds for the Cork side. But it was Josh Steel who secured the win with four of his 10 points inside the final minute of the game to take the lead. On the Tralee side, it was the duo of Jordan Perkins and Irshaad Hunte scoring 28 and 22 respectively, with Hunte adding 15 of his own boards. In a battle between the star duos, the games lead changed hands on 16 separate occasions with the Warriors leading at half-time. The loss for the Kerry side in MTU gives them their third defeat of the season as they fall to sixth at 4-3 through the first seven fixtures.

Defending champions UCC Demons torrid start to the season continued, with a 20-point defeat to Griffith College Éanna. The loss is Demons sixth in seven Super League games this season. Daniel O’Mahony’s men endured a rough afternoon at Coláiste Éanna, not taking any form of a lead throughout the game and going behind by as much as 22 in the fourth. Jarvis Doles had his brightest game yet for Demons with 26 points on 11/16 shooting. For Éanna, they had one of their brightest offensive games to date, shooting over 50% from three-point range. Five players for the home side were in double digits, with Mikah Blackwell leading the way with 24 points, flanked by a supporting cast of Sean Jenkins and Kristijan Andabaka who both had 17. Stefan Desnica and Cathal O’Sullivan adding 13 and 11 respectively.

Éanna’s fifth win of the season takes them to second in the Domino’s Men’s Super League table. They will be looking to gain a sixth win on Sunday, as they face the league leaders Belfast Star.

Killester are level with Éanna and sit in third spot after an 11-point win over Energywise Ireland Neptune. The offensive power of Killester trio Paul Dick, Josh Wilson and Matthew McGrath drove home the victory with the three men scoring 65 of Killesters 78 points. Both Dick and Farouq Raheem had double-doubles adding 13 and 11 rebounds respectively. The lead changed hands seven times across the first three quarters but once the away team took the lead late in the third, Killester did not fall behind for the remainder of the game to reach 5-2 for the season.

Jordan Blount dropped 30 points in a 99-81 defeat for Flexachem KCYMS against EJ Sligo All-Stars in Mercy College on Saturday night. Jazere Noel had a 20-point 10-rebound game for Sligo along with a 28-point showing from RJ Etyle-Rock. Killorglin went behind early in the first quarter and did not go back in front again in a game that sees the Kerry side fall to 3-4 on the season. The win for Sligo sees them go to 3-4 and level with their opponents in the table.

On Sunday, there is an entirely fresh round of fixtures in the Domino's Men's Super League, including a top of the table clash between first place Belfast Star taking on second spot Griffith College Éanna. Also on Sunday, Limerick Celtics look to get their season back on track against St. Vincent’s, Garvey’s Tralee Warriors aim to reignite their title challenge as they travel to Sligo, Killorglin will host Neptune and Killester will face UCD Marian in IWA. All of Sunday's games will be shown live on BITV.