Belfast Star coach Sean Ingle says his players need to quickly shape up for two crucial games against Vincent’s in the All Ireland Superleague.

Star slumped to a 96-85 defeat away to UCD Marian on Sunday, dropping from sixth to eighth in the Superleague but with two games in hand. The top eight make the end-of-season play-offs, and Ingle knows that victories over 11th-placed Vincent’s could well be critical in their bid to make the top eight.

For Marian, it proved to be a perfect weekend as they defeated Neptune on Saturday before conquering Star on Sunday.

“We have to re-group very quickly because we have back-to-back home and away games against Vincent’s over the next two weekends and winning both those games could prove to be crucial in making sure we’re in the top eight come the end of the regular season," he said.

“We were a bit all over the place against Marian and to be honest, it could have been a 20-point game but they missed a few shots when they were open. I don’t think we were cohesive enough as a group offensively and credit to Marian because they did a great job on us defensively. 

“It was a game where I felt we really missed Conor Quinn as our point guard but also his leadership as our captain on the court because we came under a lot of pressure and didn’t know how to respond. We just can’t allow teams to dictate how we play, we have to have an answer. Guys have to step up and find a way when we’re under pressure the way we were against Marian.”

It proved to be a very frustrating Sunday for Ingle as Star had made a promising start on the back of a very impressive victory over Ballincollig. 

Star had edged the first quarter 25-22 with American Darweshi Hunter scoring 15 of those points but after a poor second quarter, they were unable to really threaten the Dublin side for whom Lovre Tvrdic top scored on 22 points. Hunter finished with 26 points and eight rebounds, Deondre Jackson had 19 and Max Richardson ended with impressive stats of 17 points and 13 rebounds.

In a tight opening quarter, Conor Ryan came up with a three-pointer to give Star a 23-22 lead with 90 seconds remaining. Richardson and Hunter hit a couple of free throws to give Star a three-point lead heading into the second quarter.

After a nip and tuck start to the second quarter, the sides were tied on 35 with four and a half minutes remaining but then Jonathan Jean (19pts) and Oscar Mendez Blanco (18pts) started to fire for Marian who moved into a five-point lead.

Star’s offence struggled to make a dent in the Marian defence and at the break the Belfast men trailed 49-40.

Star needed Jackson to give much more and he came out with real purpose at the start of the third quarter.

Together with Max Richardson, they brought Star to within five points but Marian hit back immediately and with two minutes to go had once again extended their lead to 10. But a Richardson basket followed by a three from Jackson just before the buzzer meant they only trailed 72-67 at the end of the third quarter.

Star were in the hunt for a win on the road, particularly after Richardson got them to within three points but then Tanner Graham came up with a couple of three-pointers to give the home side a nine-point advantage.

Star worked hard for openings but on too many occasions failed to convert, while Marian kept the scoreboard ticking over to make sure of victory.