Conor O’Sullivan.
BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN
By John Manley
Conor O’Sullivan had his most productive game since joining the Birmingham Southern men’s basketball program, scoring a team-high 14 points in Sunday's 72-59 road loss to Berry. The 6-3 sophomore guard from Tower, Co. Cork made six of nine shots from the floor, including two of four from deep water. He made his mark in just 13 minutes off the bench as the Panthers tumbled to 10-11.
Likewise, Sean Gilmore came off the pine to treat Colby to a team-high 17 points in Friday’s 84-68 loss at home to Williams. The 6-7 junior from San Francisco converted seven of 10 field goal attempts (one of two from three-point territory) and both his free throws. He also brought down five rebounds and rejected two Williams shots. On Saturday, Colby suffered another loss, this time 81-68 to Middlebury. Gilmore, a product of the Irish national basketball program, contributed nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, including one successful launch from long range. Colby dropped to 15-7 with the defeats.
Hartford’s John Carroll displayed some versatility in Wednesday’s 86-60 win at home over Binghamton. The 6-8 senior from Dublin got credit for a game-high seven assists. He also chipped in 14 points, shooting 6-of-8 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from outside the three-point perimeter. The Hawks then dropped to 11-12 on Saturday with an 86-77 road loss to Stony Brook, despite a Carroll double-double. He notched 16 points, connecting on just four of 12 field goal attempts (one of five from deep), although his nine free throws suggest that several of his shots from the floor were compromised. He converted seven of those foul shots. Ten rebounds fell his way.
Portland’s Josh McSwiggan had one of his better outings of the season in Saturday’s 69-63 overtime loss on the road to Santa Clara. The 6-7 junior, a Belfast native, scored 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting (2-of-8 on three-pointers) and one successful free throw. His eight rebounds were co-high for the Pilots (7-17).
Sean Flood shot 50 percent from three-point territory in Longwood’s 96-83 loss at home to Hampton on Wednesday. The 6-2 junior guard from Dublin clicked on three of six such attempts to put nine points on the scoreboard. The Lancers are now 13-12.
Jordan Blount won’t be shooting just for the sake of taking a shot. The 6-8 Illinois-Chicago forward from Cork was limited to just nine field goal attempts over two home victories, 67-53 over Wright State on Friday and 69-67 over Northern Kentucky on Sunday, although he found other ways to contribute. He scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting against Wright, to go along with four rebounds and three steals. He tallied two points on 1-of-3 shooting against Northern Kentucky, but got credit for seven caroms. The Flames are burning brighter at 12-12 after the victories.
SQUASH
Harvard’s women ran off 9-0 victories over Tufts and Princeton last week. Belfast sophomore Hannah Craig was slotted fifth for Tuesday’s match against Tufts, in which she took the measure of Catherine Shanahan, 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-7). Saturday’s match against Princeton’s Isabel Hirshberg started out well but grew harder. Craig had to grind to defeat her rival, 3-2 (11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7).
Stephanie Ryan and Fiona Power provided Drexel with hard-fought victories at the sixth and seventh slots, respectively, but that wasn’t enough to keep the Dragons from falling to Columbia, 5-4, in New York on Friday. Ryan, a sophomore from Dublin, needed five games to break Doria Chen, 11-5, 11-1, 9-11, 12-14, 11-9. Power, a senior from Galway, took care of Julia Masch, 3-1 (11-4, 11-3, 9-11, 11-3).
