Experience crucial in seeing Portlaoise survive massive challenge from St. Paul’s
Xabi Arriga says experience is the key to Portlaoise Panthers winning run at the start of this season's Men's Division 1 campaign
ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers 79
SPK Utility Trust Lakers 74
XABI Arriaga insists experience was a key factor in seeing ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers navigate their way past the colossal challenge of SPK Utility Trust Lakers in St. Mary’s Hall on Monday.
In what was, undoubtedly, their toughest test of the 2025/26 Men’s National League campaign so far, Jack Scully’s side fought back from four points down with just over a minute remaining, Portlaoise guard, Arriaga holding his nerve to convert four of five free throws in the closing 30 seconds that helped see them over the line.
It was certainly not the tidiest of performances by this Panthers outfit, who left behind 14 points worth of free throws and were just 10 percent for three on the day.
But they still found a way to dig out a victory that sees them remain the only unbeaten team in Division One after five games, Rich Ashu again coming up big with a massive 32 points and 21 rebounds, while Mike Wallace weighed in with 18 on the scoreboard.
St. Paul’s, who were coming into this game off the back of two impressive wins over Tipp Talons and Malahide, had a lot more joy off the three-point line and really put it up to their hosts, Stephen Kelly and Eoin Carroll spearheading their challenge with a combined 38 points, the latter also taking a huge 20 boards.
Such a challenge did not come as a surprise to Arriaga, who said after the game: “We know we're probably the team to beat at the moment, so all the teams are going to come here having really scouted us properly.
“The first half was bit messy. They did a pretty good job on me and Rich, but when we started playing through everybody, we came out on top.
“It might be the first time in two years where we’ve had to come back in the last four minutes of the game, so having experienced players on the court like me, Kevin [Donohoe] and Mike, you can see that difference between the two teams. We were able to execute in the last few minutes, and they weren't, so that's what makes the difference.
“We know we have a lot of weapons. Rich, over the first four games, has been the best player in the country by far and Kevin was great in the last quarter today too, so that experience that we have, when it comes to those last two minutes, it's going to win us games like this,” he told the .
St. Paul’s led by the narrowest of margins three minutes into the contest after Carroll opened proceedings with a deuce before Mark Sheehan struck from beyond the arc.
But a six-point run, that included four from the free-throw line by Wallace and Davin McEvoy, propelled Panthers back into the driving seat.
Wallace, McEvoy and Ashu continued to pick up buckets down the lane to help leave the hosts 11 points up (20-9) by the close of the first quarter.
The visitors, however, kept themselves well in the reckoning, picking up six unanswered points early in the second, and Kelly accounting for all of those scores.
Ashu muscled his way in to halt that run, but Killarney continued to chip away at the deficit, with Samuel Grant picking up a deuce before Kelly and Jack O’Sullivan drained fine efforts off the three-point line.
A steal from Wallace led to another bucket from Ashu, but Panthers were still struggling to garner anything in the way of momentum and had just three points to spare (35-32) by the half-time recess.
That narrow advantage was wiped out less than a minute into the third thanks to Kelly and Carroll, and, while Portlaoise did work their way back into a six-point lead, St. Paul’s just weren’t going away, another three-pointer from Sheehan helping leave them ahead by as much (51-48) heading into the fourth.
It would prove a nail-biting finale, with the two sides twice finding themselves deadlocked in this final period before a Kelly bucket off the three-point line helped propel the visitors four points up with 1:37 left on the clock.
But an ‘and one’ by Ashu cut that gap back to just one and, when Arriaga was awarded three free throws in the closing minute, he drained every one of them, before drawing another foul that resulted in yet another point.
Kelly was forced to go for the three that would have levelled the game, but his effort failed to drop, and Ashu made certain of the win with another two from the free-throw line with just a second left on the clock.
It will be a quick turnaround for Portlaoise, as they go back on the road this coming Friday to take on a Limerick Sport Eagles team that has enjoyed a strong start to the season, with four wins from their opening five games.
ND AUDIT PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Dylan Dunne, Michael Wallace, Jayden Umeh, Trevor Swayne, Davin McEvoy, Kevin Donohoe, Rich Ashu, Xabi Arriaga, Kyle Burke.
Top Scorers: Rich Ashu (32), Mike Wallace (18), Xabi Arriaga (12), Davin McEvoy (9), Kevin Donohoe (8).
SPK UTILITY TRUST LAKERS: Eoin Carroll, Jack O’Sullivan, Oisin Spring, Samuel Grant, Stephen Kelly, Mark Sheehan, Pablo Murcia Soler.
Top Scorers: Stephen Kelly (22), Eoin Carroll (16), Samuel Grant (11), Jack O’Sullivan (10).
