BASKETBALL Mark Bernsen departs Abrakebabra Tralee Tigers

A truly disastrous weekend for Abrakebabra Tigers ended with the departure of Head Coach Mark Bernsen following their surprise hammering at the hands of DCU Saints, while DART Killester picked up their fourth win on the trot away to Ulster Elks.

Belfast Star proved too strong at home to Neptune with UCD/Marian maintaining their encouraging start to the season at the expense of Limerick Lions.

In Sunday's clash, UCC Demons continued to show why they are one of the favourites for the title with a thumping win over Hoops.

Abrakebabra Tigers are on the look out for a new coach after they revealed that Mark Bernsen is leaving the club with immediate effect.

The Tigers have endured a miserable start to the season, with their opening game forced to be abandoned due to 'condensation' before their latest clash at the hands of DCU Saints ended in a 81-56 demoralizing defeat.

Mark Bernsen's final game in charge of Tralee proved to be the least memorable of his tenure.
Bernsen walks away from the job reportedly set to take up a role in Europe on the back of a 25 point hiding.

"I would like to thank the club and all the people in Tralee for making my stay here brilliant but an opportunity has come about even though the timing is awful," Bernsen told Radio Kerry.

On asked whether the unavailability of Kieran Donaghy and Michael Quirke and the condensation issue at the Tralee venue had an impact on his exit he said: "I'd say yes it does, I was very excited about what we did last year and I thought maybe we had got to a level where we could go forward and improve on what we did last year and start at that point.

"As i come in, there is issues with availability of players, there is the issue of the floor in the complex and instead of going forward we are kinda going backwards. I think in a month maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation but these things happen," he added on Radio Kerry.

The visitors had this game won after the opening 10 minutes. Led by Mike Trimmer and Emmet Donnelly, they were always in charge. Saints were 18-0 ahead by the time Tigers got their first basket, 6 and a half minutes into proceedings. The quarter ended with Tigers trailing 25-5.

Tigers brought the gap down to 10 in the second quarter but threes by Kevin Lacey and Martins Provizors put Saints back in pole position, leading 41-24 at half-time.

Tigers were heavily outpointed again in the third, 22-10. The gap was 63-34 going into what proved to be a pedestrian final quarter.

The story of the Ulster Elks season thus far has been of misfortune and bad luck, which has seen them slump to a 0 - 3 record.

Ulster Elks produced a brave display at home to one of the title favourites DART Killester but suffered an 80-59 defeat.
Playing some excellent basketball the Elks were able to produce offensively, and control one of Killester's main threats in Michael Boneparte.

The second quarter though began to show up the Elks, when the visitors started to pull away. At half time Killester walked into the changing room with 10 point lead over the home team, 28 - 38.

The home side found themselves losing the third quarter by 9 points, 40 - 59, now down by 19 points going into the final 10 minutes.

Faced again with an unrelenting Killester team the Elks found it though going in the fourth, but still managed to hold their own. Adding a bit of a damper to the Killester victory the Elks fought back to win the final quarter by 3 points.

UCC Demons produced yet another fine display in Sunday's clash with Colin O'Reilly's 26 points helping them to a 100-64 win over Hoops at the Mardyke Arena.

Demons held a 19 point advantage at the interval and never looked in serious trouble despite Hoops' Jonathan Reed notching 30 points.

Demons face DART Killester next weekend in what should give an early indication of who will be favourites to be crowned league champions this season.
UCD/Marian are enjoying a fine season and maintained that with a comfortable 80-59 success at home to Limerick Lions on Saturday.

UCD's coach Cormac Connor was particular pleased. "The intensity of our defensive performance was the platform for a better transition game with all of the players contributing well at both ends of the floor."
UCD/Marian restricted Limerick to 12 points in the third quarter, when Michael Parker began to make his mark for UCD, and in the final quarter Limerick were restricted to a further 10 points while Conor Meany and David Ryan continued to lead the scoring (finishing with 17 and 28 respectively) as UCD produced an excellent second half performance to run out convincing winners on a scoreline of 80 to 59.

Belfast Star won their first game of the season in impressive fashion with 14 points to spare over Neptune on Saturday night.

Summer signing Kevin Foley was the main instigator with 27 points, while fellow recent recruit Chris Butler chipped in with 23 points.

Neptune managed to sign Ed Millard in time for the trip north and he settled in quickly with an impressive 34 points.

Meanwhile, in Basketball Ireland's Women's SuperLeague, DCU Mercy continued their perfect start to the season with a comfortable win at home to Meteors on a scoreline of 96-55.

Mary Fox was the top scorer for DCU with 24 points, while summer signing Shauna O'Connor showed her credentials with 19 points.

Waterford Wildcats emerged from their clash away to Tolka Rovers (77-61) with maximum points, while league newcomers LeisureWorld Churchfield IONA marked their first win since joining the top division at home to DART Killester with a 66-55 win.

Led by Canadian star, Rachel Vanderwal who scored 31 points, IONA are showing there are proving more than capable in the top division.