2015–16 Irish Premier League season

The 2015–16 Irish Premier League season was the 43rd 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 3 October 2015 and ending on 6 March 2016. With a first-place finish and a 16–2 win–loss record, UCC Demons were crowned back-to-back league champions,[1][2][3] while 2016 National Cup honours went to Templeogue, who collected their first piece of silverware.[4][5] In the season finale Champions Trophy tournament, Demons took out the title for the fourth straight year.[6]

2015–16 Irish Premier League season
LeaguePremier League
SportBasketball
Duration3 October 2015 – 6 March 2016 (Regular season)
12 March 2016 – 20 March 2016 (Champions Trophy)
Number of games18
Number of teams10
Regular season
League championsUCC Demons
Season MVPLehmon Colbert (UCC Demons)
Top scorerDuane Johnson (DCU Saints) (26.2 ppg)
Tournaments
Champions Trophy championsUCC Demons
  Champions Trophy runners-upKillester
National Cup championsTempleogue
  National Cup runners-upSwords Thunder
Premier League seasons

Teams

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Team Stadium City/Area Last season
Belfast Star Methodist College Belfast 6th
DCU Saints DCU Sports Complex Glasnevin, Dublin 8th
Éanna Coláiste Éanna Rathfarnham, Dublin New
Killester IWA Sports Hall Clontarf, Dublin 4th
Moycullen Kingfisher, NUIG Galway New
Swords Thunder ALSAA Sports Complex Dublin Airport, Dublin 2nd
Templeogue Oblate Hall Inchicore, Dublin 3rd
UCC Demons Mardyke Arena, UCC Cork 1st
UCD Marian UCD Sports Centre Belfield, Dublin 5th
UL Eagles PESS Building, UL Limerick 9th

Regular season

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Standings

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# Irish Premier League Regular Season Standings
Team W L PCT PTS
1 UCC Demons 16 2 89 48
2 Killester 14 4 78 42
3 Templeogue 14 4 78 42
4 UCD Marian 10 8 56 30
5 Swords Thunder 9 9 50 27
6 DCU Saints 7 11 39 21
7 Belfast Star 6 12 33 18
8 UL Eagles 6 12 33 18
9 Moycullen 5 13 28 15
10 Éanna 3 15 17 9

Source: Basketball Ireland

Champions Trophy

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Bracket

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Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
1 UCC Demons 75
4 UCD Marian 101 4 UCD Marian 71
KUBS** 67   UCC Demons 82
Killester 77
2 Killester 94
3 Templeogue 86 3 Templeogue 76
Maree* 73

*National League Division 1 champions.[7]

**National League Division 1 runners-up.[7]

Quarter-finals

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12 March 2016
16:30 GMT
Maree 73–86 Templeogue
Pts: Cathal Finn (18) Pts: Michael Bonaparte (34)
Calasanctius College, Oranmore
12 March 2016
20:00 GMT
KUBS 67–101 UCD Marian
Pts: Jonathan Riles (19) Pts: Dustan Moreira (24)
Carroll Arena, Greendale, Dublin

Source: Basketball Ireland

Semi-finals

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19 March 2016
15:00 GMT
Killester 94–76 Templeogue
Scoring by quarter: 26–21, 24–24, 19–18, 25–13
Pts: Jermaine Turner (25)
Rebs: Jermaine Turner (16)
Asts: Ciaran Roe (6)
Pts: Michael Bonaparte (28)
Rebs: Michael Bonaparte (13)
Asts: Tied (5)
The Watershed, Kilkenny
19 March 2016
17:00 GMT
UCC Demons 75–71 UCD Marian
Scoring by quarter: 23–18, 19–19, 22–22, 11–12
Pts: Lehmon Colbert (35)
Rebs: Lehmon Colbert (17)
Asts: Kyle Hosford (5)
Pts: Dustan Moreira (17)
Rebs: Dustan Moreira (11)
Asts: Barry Drumm (8)
The Watershed, Kilkenny

Source: Basketball Ireland, Basketball Ireland

Final

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20 March 2016
16:00 GMT
UCC Demons 82–77 Killester
Scoring by quarter: 16–15, 24–26, 26–14, 16–22
Pts: Lehmon Colbert (27)
Rebs: Lehmon Colbert (16)
Asts: Colin O'Reilly (10)
Pts: Paul Dick (22)
Rebs: Paul Dick (12)
Asts: Tied (6)
The Watershed, Kilkenny
MVP: Lehmon Colbert

National Cup

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Round 1 (2 legs)

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13 November 2015 (Series 1)
UL Eagles 53–82 UCC Demons
UL Arena, Limerick
14 November 2015 (Series 2)
UCD Marian 116–85 DCU Saints
UCD Sports Centre, Dublin
14 November 2015 (Series 3)
Moycullen 70–80 Templeogue
NUIG Kingfisher, Galway
14 November 2015 (Series 4)
Swords Thunder 78–59 Éanna
ALSAA, Dublin
14 November 2015 (Series 5)
Belfast Star 86–74 Killester
Methodist College, Belfast
4 December 2015 (Series 1)
UCC Demons 88–67 UL Eagles
UCC Demons win Series 1 on aggregate (170–120).
Mardyke Arena, Cork
5 December 2015 (Series 2)
DCU Saints 67–80 UCD Marian
UCD Marian win Series 2 on aggregate (196–152).
DCU Sports Complex, Dublin
5 December 2015 (Series 3)
Templeogue 79–78 Moycullen
Templeogue win Series 3 on aggregate (159–148).
Oblate Hall, Dublin
5 December 2015 (Series 4)
Éanna 86–92 Swords Thunder
Swords Thunder win Series 4 on aggregate (170–145).
Coláiste Éanna, Dublin
5 December 2015 (Series 5)
Killester 100–51 Belfast Star
Killester win Series 5 on aggregate (174–137).
IWA-Clontarf, Dublin

Round 2 (1 leg)

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Winner of Series 2 vs Winner of Series 4

18 December 2015
Swords Thunder 80–70 UCD Marian
ALSAA, Dublin

Semi-finals

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Winner of Series 1 vs Winner of Round 2

8 January 2016
UCC Demons 82–103 Swords Thunder
Mardyke Arena, Cork

Winner of Series 5 vs Winner of Series 3

9 January 2016
Killester 59–61 Templeogue
Mardyke Arena, Cork

Final

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30 January 2016
20:00 GMT
Swords Thunder 75–78 Templeogue
Scoring by quarter: 16–24, 23–4, 12–29, 24–21
Pts: Isaac Westbrooks (15)
Rebs: Dan Nelms (13)
Asts: Isaac Westbrooks (7)
Pts: Michael Bonaparte (21)
Rebs: Jason Killeen (10)
Asts: Sean Flood (5)
National Basketball Arena, Dublin
MVP: Michael Bonaparte

Source: Basketball Ireland, Comortais

Awards

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Player of the Month

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Month Player Team Ref
October Michael Bonaparte Templeogue [8]
November Lehmon Colbert UCC Demons [9]
December Duane Johnson DCU Saints [10]
January Michael Bonaparte Templeogue [11]
February Jermaine Turner Killester [12]

Coach of the Month

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Month Player Team Ref
October Mark Keenan Templeogue [8]
November Colin O'Reilly UCC Demons [9]
December Neal McCotter Belfast Star [10]
January Mark Keenan Templeogue [11]
February Brian O'Malley Killester [12]

Statistics leaders

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Stats as of the end of the regular season[13][14]

Category Player Team Stat
Points per game Duane Johnson DCU Saints 26.2
Rebounds per game Duane Johnson DCU Saints 18.7
Assists per game Isaac Westbrooks Swords Thunder 9.1
Steals per game Alexander Zurn UCD Marian 4.6
Blocks per game Alexander Zurn UCD Marian 3.6

Regular season

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  • Player of the Year: Lehmon Colbert (UCC Demons)[15]
  • Young Player of the Year: Sean Flood (Templeogue)
  • Coach of the Year: Brian O'Malley (Killester)
  • All-Star First Picks:
  • All-Star Second Picks:
    • Staats Battle (UL Eagles)
    • Paul Dick (Killester)
    • Sean Flood (Templeogue)
    • Dan James (UCD Marian)
    • Isaac Westbrooks (Swords Thunder)
  • All-Star Third Picks:
    • Paul Cummins (Templeogue)
    • Conor Grace (Templeogue)
    • Jason Killeen (Templeogue)
    • Dustan Moreira (UCD Marian)
    • Mārtiņš Provizors (DCU Saints)

References

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  1. ^ "C&S UCC DEMONS RETAIN MEN'S PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE". BlueDemonsBC.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  2. ^ "TROPHY PRESENTATION FOR LEAGUE CHAMPIONS ON SUNDAY". BlueDemonsBC.com. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  3. ^ "C&S UCC DEMONS ARE CROWNED 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE WINNERS". BlueDemonsBC.com. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  4. ^ Blake, Ben (30 January 2016). "Templeogue pip GCD Swords Thunder in dramatic Men's National Cup final". the42.ie. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  5. ^ McGee, Tony (1 February 2016). "Templeogue hold off late Swords surge in National Cup final". IrishTimes.com. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  6. ^ "DEMONS CLAIM END OF SEASON CHAMPIONS TROPHY". BasketballIreland.ie. 20 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  7. ^ a b "PLAYOFF AND CHAMPIONS TROPHY FIXTURES CONFIRMED". BasketballIreland.ie. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  8. ^ a b "OCTOBER PLAYERS AND COACHES OF THE MONTH". BasketballIreland.ie. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  9. ^ a b "NOVEMBER 2015 AWARDS". BasketballIreland.ie. 16 December 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  10. ^ a b "DECEMBER AWARDS 2015". BasketballIreland.ie. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  11. ^ a b "JANUARY PLAYER AND COACH OF THE MONTH AWARDS". BasketballIreland.ie. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  12. ^ a b "PLAYER AND COACH OF THE MONTH AWARDS - FEBRUARY 2016". BasketballIreland.ie. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  13. ^ "Basketball Ireland – Player Stats". BasketballIreland.ie. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  14. ^ "Basketball Ireland – League Stats". BasketballIreland.ie. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  15. ^ "BASKETBALL IRELAND ANNUAL AWARDS 2016". BasketballIreland.ie. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  16. ^ "BASKETBALL IRELAND 2016 ALL-STARS REVEALED". BasketballIreland.ie. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.