Star were left reeling by the 30-point defeat away to Demons but were inspired by a superb display from American Bobby Kelly, who hit 27 points.

Coach Darren O'Neill said: "The lads showed me their character and to be honest we should have won by much more than this but we seemed to ease off when ahead in the fourth quarter and thankfully Bobby hit two free throws near the end to make sure of the win.

"Killester have championship aspirations and I can see why because their Americans Arnoud Dahi (33 points) and Michael Bonaparteare are top class but we managed to do a very good job on him."

Star shot out of the blocks and had a 22-10 lead at the end of the first quarter with Kelly coming up with two three-pointers, while Stephen Dawson was driving to the basket with great effect.

Dahi then moved up a gear in the second quarter and his class helped pull in Star, who were just 40-31 ahead at the break.

After a tight third quarter, Star were 55-48 ahead and made an indifferent start to the last 11 minutes. Lithuanian Rimas Kidykas and Kelly started to fire and they had a 12-point lead before taking their foot off the gas and having to hold on for victory.

Merry Monk Ballina recorded another win with an impressive 98-85 defeat of Neptune in Cork. Peter Strobl made a huge impact for Ballina with a personal tally of 33 points, while Jimmy Boston notched up 26.

Limerick Lions suffered heartbreak with a one-point defeat at home to Munster rivals UCC Demons.

Irish international Colin O'Reilly maintained his good form with 22 for Demons, while Terence Todd finished on 21.

University of Ulster lost again on Friday night, going down 101-81 away to the Hoops.