Basketball Weekend round-upIt had to end sometime. After heartbreak in the Cup last week the Tralee Tigers suffered their first Superleague defeat of the season on Saturday, losing to Limerick.
They had no answer to a superb fourth quarter, where Randy Fletcher, Paul Freeman and Matthew Hall all showed well. Although Tralee were unable to pull it back they still remain six points clear at the top of the Southern Conference.
Neptune missed a great opportunity to peg the Kerry side back over the weekend when they lost to UCC Demons in an all-Cork affair. Despite Kenny Gamble shooting 28 points, UCC had enough in the tank, running out 95-80 winners to leave the Demons, Neptune and Limerick all tied in second place in the table.
UCD Marian missed the chance to go top of the Northern Conference after Star of the Sea snatched an 89-90 victory on the buzzer. Leading by six points with 12 seconds on the clock, Marian looked set for victory but two successive baskets, one a three-pointer, from Scott Summersgill left just a point in it. Then with a second on the clock, Barry Glover was penalised for a travelling violation, sending Gareth Maguire to the line for two free shots. Maguire converted both to record the narrow victory for the northerners.
Elsewhere, the Killarney Lakers moved clear of struggling Waterford at the bottom of the table with a 100-78 victory, while in the Dublin derby Killester beat St Vincent's 94-74.
The draw for the senior men's and senior women's European Championships took place in Belgrade on Saturday. These games will be played home and away, beginning in September 2004. The Irish men have been drawn with Switzerland, Malta and Slovakia while the women's opponents are Sweden, Estonia and Luxembourg.
