Nik Ntougas, the latest foreign addition to the Basketball Ireland Men’s SuperLeague, was among a host of non-Irish players in action at the weekend.
The seven-foot Greek lined out for Shamrock Rovers Hoops against the Tralee Tigers on Saturday night, after signing from Greece under the Bosman ruling for free movement between European sports teams earlier in the month.
Hoops got off to a bad start and trailed for most of the game. But they eventually got themselves level at 81 apiece with just under two minutes remaining.
After a slip up from Hoops’ Ian O’Boyle – who was their top-scoring player of the game with 24 points – the initiative was back with the Tigers, who scored with an uncontested lay-up from their star ex-pat American Bryce May.
The two sides swapped points until the buzzer signalled, with the Tigers leading by 87 to 86.
Elsewhere in the Super-League, reigning champions DART Killester maintained their title defence with an impressive 95–81 win over UCC Neptune.
The highlight of Killester’s victory was the performance of its two foreign stars, Arnoud Dahi and Michael Bonaparte. Ivory Coast’s Dahi and Grenada-born Bonaparte am-assed a huge tally of 52 points between them.
Men’s SuperLeague Results:
UCC Demons 109 Belfast Star 79
University Ulster 91 Merry Monk Ballina 106
Limerick Lions 69 DCU Saints 89
DART Killester 95 Neptune 81
Abrakebabra Tigers 87 Hoops 86
DCU Mercy 86 Waterford Wildcats 75
Team Montonette Hotel Cork 80 UL Aughinish 70
