Panthers’ play-off hopes dealt a serious blow with road loss to Maree

Basketball Ireland Men's Division 1

Maree 80 

ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers 72 

ND AUDIT Portlaoise Panthers saw their hopes of securing a National League Division One play-off spot dealt a serious blow after they suffered defeat on the road against Maree on Sunday afternoon.

Jack Scully’s side produced a strong first half in Calasanctius College, opening up a nine-point advantage, only to see that reduced to three by the end of the third quarter.

They still held a one-point lead with less than three minutes remaining in the game, but they were outgunned by nine down the stretch, despite Xabi Arriaga twice draining big trebles late on.

Both Rinor Dragusha and Isaiah Taylor struck either side of the arc for Maree in those decisive minutes, taking their combined tally to 39 points on the night, while Justin Wickham emerged with 16 points and 13 rebounds for the hosts.

It was another huge night for Portlaoise’s Amiri Darrell Stewart, as he carded a colossal 38 points, with 12 rebounds and five assists to boot.

But even that weighty contribution, and Arriaga’s double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds, was not enough to inspire Panthers to a victory that would have propelled them back among the top four of the South Conference with just two games remaining in the regular season.

A Dragusha treble got Maree up and running with just 13 seconds gone, but Portlaoise hit back with buckets from Arriaga and Stewart.

That set the stage for a hotly-contested first quarter in which the two sides found themselves deadlocked on four occasions, before Stewart struck from the free-throw line and the floor to see Panthers end that period with a narrow 22-19 lead.

The visitors accounted for the opening five points of the second quarter, as Stewart delivered in the paint and Jayden Umeh drained a sublime effort from beyond the arc to enlarge the gap to eight.

Arriaga soon followed that up with two big triples to help propel Portlaoise 13 points clear, but Maree managed to reclaim some lost ground, as Justin Wickham and Cillian Cannon each got in for a brace ahead of a further two free throws by Taylor to leave nine between the teams (42-33) at the half-time break.

Davin McEvoy added another uncontested shot to that lead in the opening minute of the third, but buckets from Huw Bevan, Daniel Oyeleye and Taylor helped the hosts reduce their arrears to four by the midway point in that period.

The Laois side, however, managed to remain out in front, and baskets from Stewart and Arriaga pushed their lead back out to seven, only to see their Galway rivals chalk up the last four in that quarter through Taylor and Dragusha cut the gap to three (52-49).

Maree continued snapping at the heels of their guests, a Wickham bucket a minute into the fourth making it a one-point game.

Portlaoise responded with seven unanswered points as Stewart struck from the free-throw line, down the lane and beyond the arc, but back came Maree with trebles from Dragusha and Daniel Oyeleye.

Another Stewart shot from downtown put the visitors five up, but Maree hit six without reply, starting with a deuce from Jake Morris, as they overtook by the narrowest of margins.

And they continued on to make the decisive push with an eight-point run that featured more outside shots from Dragusha and Taylor and propelled them seven clear - a lead they refused to relinquish.

It was a disappointing finish to a double-game weekend that had seen Portlaoise storm to a 91-67 victory at home to Killarney Cougars in St. Mary’s Hall only the day before.

While the loss to Maree now means the prospects of securing a play-off berth are out of their hands, Panthers will still be looking to preserve their hopes of advancing to the league quarter-finals by beating Team North West and Maigh Cuilinn in their closing two games of the regular season.

MAREE: Isaiah Taylor, Daniel Oyeleye, Rinor Dragusha, Huw Bevan, Jake Morris, Justin Wickham, Cillian Cannon.

Top Scorers: Rinor Dragusha (23), Isaiah Taylor (16), Justin Wickham (16), Daniel Oyeleye (11).

ND AUDIT PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Dylan Dunne, Amiri Darrell Stewart, Jayden Umeh, Trevor Swayne, Davin McEvoy, Kevin Donohoe, Xabi Arriaga, Love Omoijade.

Top Scorers: Amiri Darrell Stewart (38), Xabi Arriaga (20), Kevin Donohoe (6).