The 2014–15 Irish Premier League season was the 42nd running of Basketball Ireland's premier men's basketball competition. The season featured 10 teams from across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, with the regular season beginning on 4 October 2014 and ending on 15 March 2015. In 2014–15, UCC Demons created history in Irish basketball by becoming the first side ever to remain undefeated for an entire season. They claimed the end-of-season Champions Trophy on 29 March 2015 to add to their League and Cup titles in a campaign that saw them win 24 games in a row. In a thrilling Champions Trophy final in Galway, Demons saw off Templeogue 85–73 behind the play of player-coach Colin O'Reilly.[1]
| 2014–15 Irish Premier League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Premier League |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | 4 October 2014 – 15 March 2015 (Regular season) 21 March 2015 – 29 March 2015 (Champions Trophy) |
| Number of games | 18 |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| Regular season | |
| League champions | UCC Demons |
| Season MVP | Colin O'Reilly (UCC Demons) |
| Top scorer | Ricky Taylor (Belfast Star) (26.2 ppg) |
| Tournaments | |
| Champions Trophy champions | UCC Demons |
| Champions Trophy runners-up | Templeogue |
| National Cup champions | UCC Demons |
| National Cup runners-up | UCD Marian |
Teams
edit| Team | Stadium | City/Area | Last season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast Star | Methodist College | Belfast | 6th |
| DCU Saints | DCU Sports Complex | Glasnevin, Dublin | 4th |
| Dublin Inter | Mountview Y&C Club | Clonsilla, Dublin | 8th |
| Killester | IWA Sports Hall | Clontarf, Dublin | 1st |
| Neptune | Neptune Stadium | Cork | 3rd |
| Swords Thunder | ALSAA Sports Complex | Dublin Airport, Dublin | New |
| Templeogue | Oblate Hall | Inchicore, Dublin | 10th |
| UCC Demons | Mardyke Arena, UCC | Cork | 2nd |
| UCD Marian | UCD Sports Centre | Belfield, Dublin | 7th |
| UL Eagles | UL Arena | Limerick | 5th |
Regular season
editStandings
edit| # | Irish Premier League Regular Season Standings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | BP | PTS | |
| 1 | UCC Demons | 18 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 54 |
| 2 | Swords Thunder | 13 | 5 | 72 | 0 | 39 |
| 3 | Templeogue | 11 | 7 | 61 | 1 | 34 |
| 4 | Killester | 11 | 7 | 61 | 1 | 34 |
| 5 | UCD Marian | 9 | 9 | 50 | 4 | 31 |
| 6 | Belfast Star | 7 | 11 | 39 | 6 | 27 |
| 7 | Neptune | 7 | 11 | 39 | 1 | 22 |
| 8 | DCU Saints | 6 | 12 | 33 | 2 | 20 |
| 9 | UL Eagles | 5 | 13 | 28 | 4 | 19 |
| 10 | Dublin Inter | 3 | 15 | 17 | 3 | 12 |
Source: Comortais
Champions Trophy
editBracket
edit| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| 1 | UCC Demons | 73 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Killester | 75 | 4 | Killester | 71 | |||||||||
| Moycullen* | 72 | 
| UCC Demons | 85 | ||||||||||
| Templeogue | 73 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Swords Thunder | 73 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Templeogue | 84 | 3 | Templeogue | 81 | |||||||||
| Maree** | 61 | |||||||||||||
*National League Division 1 champions.[2][3]
**National League Division 1 runners-up.
Quarter-finals
edit21 March 2015
19:45 GMT |
| Maree | 61–84 | Templeogue |
| Pts: Padraig Burke (17) | Pts: Conor Grace (20) |
Calasanctius College, Oranmore
|
Semi-finals
edit28 March 2015
14:00 GMT |
| UCC Demons | 73–71 | Killester |
| Scoring by quarter: 20–11, 14–27, 22–15, 17–18 | ||
| Pts: Lehmon Colbert (21) Rebs: Lehmon Colbert (11) Asts: Kyle Hosford (5) |
Pts: Ciaran Roe (17) Rebs: Jermaine Turner (16) Asts: Ciaran Roe (7) | |
NUIG Kingfisher, Galway
|
28 March 2015
16:00 GMT |
| Swords Thunder | 73–81 | Templeogue |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–21, 26–21, 13–18, 18–21 | ||
| Pts: Tied (20) Rebs: Juan Torres (14) Asts: Isaac Westbrooks (5) |
Pts: Jason Killeen (29) Rebs: Jason Killeen (16) Asts: Isaac Gordon (6) | |
NUIG Kingfisher, Galway
|
Final
edit29 March 2015
16:00 GMT |
| UCC Demons | 85–73 | Templeogue |
| Scoring by quarter: 22–23, 20–15, 20–15, 23–20 | ||
| Pts: Colin O'Reilly (25) Rebs: Lehmon Colbert (10) Asts: Colin O'Reilly (3) |
Pts: Lorcan Murphy (19) Rebs: Jason Killeen (8) Asts: Conor Grace (3) | |
National Cup
editRound 1 (2 legs)
edit6 December 2014 (Series 1)
|
| Neptune | 88–91 | UCD Marian |
| UCD Marian win Series 1 on aggregate (186–165). | ||
Neptune Stadium, Cork
|
6 December 2014 (Series 2)
|
| Dublin Inter | 73–71 | UL Eagles |
| UL Eagles win Series 2 on aggregate (146–143). | ||
Mountview Y&C Club, Dublin
|
6 December 2014 (Series 3)
|
| UCC Demons | 74–64 | Killester |
| UCC Demons win Series 3 on aggregate (162–127). | ||
Mardyke Arena, Cork
|
6 December 2014 (Series 4)
|
| Templeogue | 85–76 | DCU Saints |
| Templeogue win Series 4 on aggregate (158–142). | ||
Oblate Hall, Dublin
|
6 December 2014 (Series 5)
|
| Swords Thunder | 74–62 | Belfast Star |
| Swords Thunder win Series 5 on aggregate (147–145). | ||
ALSAA, Dublin
|
Round 2 (1 leg)
editWinner of Series 4 vs Winner of Series 5
Semi-finals
editWinner of Series 1 vs Winner of Series 2
Winner of Series 3 vs Winner of Round 2
Final
edit24 January 2015
20:00 GMT |
| UCD Marian | 65–91 | UCC Demons |
| Pts: Neil Baynes (20) | Pts: Lehmon Colbert (25) |
Source: Comortais
Awards
editPlayer of the Month
edit| Month | Player | Team | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | Colin O'Reilly | UCC Demons | [4][5] |
| November | Ricky Taylor | Belfast Star | |
| December | Michael Goj | Swords Thunder | [6] |
| January | Lehmon Colbert | UCC Demons | [7] |
| February | Conor Meany | UCD Marian | |
| March | Jason Killeen | Templeogue | [8] |
Coach of the Month
edit| Month | Player | Team | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | Colin O'Reilly | UCC Demons | [4] |
| November | Dave Baker | Swords Thunder | [9] |
| December | Ioannis Liapakis | UCD Marian | [6] |
| January | Colin O'Reilly | UCC Demons | [7] |
| February | Colin O'Reilly | UCC Demons | [10] |
| March | Mark Keenan | Templeogue | [8] |
Statistics leaders
editStats as of the end of the regular season[11]
| Category | Player | Team | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points per game | Ricky Taylor | Belfast Star | 26.2 |
| Rebounds per game | Mārtiņš Provizors | DCU Saints | 16.8 |
| Assists per game | Isaac Westbrooks | Swords Thunder | 9.6 |
| Steals per game | Isaac Westbrooks | Swords Thunder | 3.2 |
| Blocks per game | Jason Killeen | Templeogue | 2.4 |
Regular season
edit- Player of the Year: Colin O'Reilly (UCC Demons)[12]
- Young Player of the Year: Ciaran Roe (Killester)
- Coach of the Year: Colin O'Reilly (UCC Demons)
- All-Star First Picks:
- G: Kyle Hosford (UCC Demons)[13]
- G: Conor Meany (UCD Marian)
- F: Ricky Taylor (Belfast Star)
- F: Colin O'Reilly (UCC Demons)
- C: Lehmon Colbert (UCC Demons)
- All-Star Second Picks:
- G: Isaac Westbrooks (Swords Thunder)
- G: Roy Downey (Neptune)
- F: Michael Goj (Swords Thunder)
- F: Juan Torres (Swords Thunder)
- C: Jason Killeen (Templeogue)
- All-Star Third Picks:
- G: Isaac Gordon (Templeogue)
- G: Kevin Lacey (Swords Thunder)
- F: Ciaran O'Sullivan (UCC Demons)
- F: Michael Bonaparte (Neptune)
- C: Jermaine Turner (Killester)
References
edit- ^ "C&S UCC Demons end season unbeaten". RTE.ie. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "Men's Champions Trophy 2014-15". bi.comortais.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "Men's Division One 2014-15". bi.comortais.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ a b "COLIN O'REILLY IS BI COACH AND PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER 2014". BlueDemonsBC.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ Coughlan, John (18 November 2014). "O'REILLY IS THRILLED WITH AWAY-LEG WIN". EveningEcho.ie. Archived from the original on 2016-02-08. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ a b "Congrats to our very own Mike Goj for being selected as the Premier..." Facebook.com. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ a b "C&S UCC DEMONS GET BI AWARDS FOR JANUARY". BlueDemonsBC.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ a b "Congratulations to TBC's Mark Keenan and Jason Killeen, Basketball..." Facebook.com. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ O'Sullivan, Donn (12 December 2014). "Basketball Ireland: Weekend Preview". LimerickPost.ie. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "C&S UCC DEMONS GET BI AWARDS FOR FEBRUARY". BlueDemonsBC.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "Men's Premier League 2014-15". bi.comortais.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "Basketball Ireland awards for Colin O'Reilly and Niamh Dwyer". RTE.ie. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "Inaugural All-Stars Revealed". BasketballIreland.ie. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015.