Notre Dame went into the outright lead of the Superleague by winning the duel between the top two in Tallaght on Saturday night, defeating Star of the Sea 93-84. In a game that was closer than the final scoreline reflects, the opening exchanges were very even before Notre Dame hit thirteen points in a row to go 25-12 ahead.
That flood of scoring settled the pattern of play, Star having to play catch-up for the remainder of the match.
By half time, Notre Dame, having weathered a spirited Star response, pulled away again to lead 49-38 but the Belfast side pressed relentlessly to tie the game, and entering the last quarter, the gap was down to four points, with Notre Dame 67-63 ahead.
With the backing of a sizeable home crowd which thronged the National Arena, in spite of the clash with the televised World Cup soccer play-off in Brussels, the Dubliners utilised their big three of Anthony Jenkins, Lennie McMillan and Randall Mounts to earn more than an even share of the boards - a crucial aspect in holding off the strong Star comeback which reached its peak in the final four minutes.
First Chuck Guittar reduced the deficit to a single point at 80-81 and then with two minutes left it was still just a one point game - Notre Dame with a bare minimum lead of 85-84.
Star's long fight to achieve parity then came to an abrupt end as Darren McGuinness found the inspiration to land a crucial threepointer which brought the crowd to their feet. Shortly after, the referees called an offensive charge against Star's Chuck Guittar under the Notre Dame board and then the American suffered a technical for his subsequent protest.
That marked the end of Star's challenge and Notre Dame pulled away to a somewhat flattering nine point winning margin.
Elsewhere, the defending champions Neptune are still remarkably without a win after suffering their fifth consecutive defeat this season in Dungannon on Saturday night. The much troubled Cork side travelled north with only one American as their new signing Tye Field had to return home to the United States for family reasons.
Dungannon's 76-67 victory keeps them in a share of third place with St Vincent's who defeated St Pauls' Killarney 109-95 yesterday in Glasnevin.
Ballina dropped out of the tie for third after suffering a 102-85 defeat at home to Killester who travelled with a much depleted squad. Marian were another team to win away from home as they beat Tralee 80-62 in Kerry on Saturday night.
The duel between the top two sides in division one resulted in a very close game in which Sligo just held on to their unbeaten record with a 74-72 win over Waterford. Sligo are now four points clear at the top of the table.
Like Notre Dame and Sligo, Wildcats preserved their 100 per cent record in the women's national league over the weekend with a victory on Saturday night over Tralee by 106-42 in a very one-sided match.
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