Panthers roar back from 13 points down to stun Titans in League opener

Titans 77 

Bowes Auto Centre Portlaoise Panthers 81 

RICH Ashu and Tommy Dirienzo spearheaded a tremendous comeback by Bowes Auto Centre Portlaoise Panthers that saw them battle their way back from 13 points down deep into the third quarter to snatch a dramatic road win over Titans in their 2026/27 Domino’s Men’s National League Division One opener in Ballinfoile Community Centre on Saturday night.

Still finding themselves three points adrift with as many minutes left on the clock, Ciaran Kiveney’s men hit seven points without reply down the stretch, including crucial buckets from Jayden Umeh and Cillian O’Connell to haul this game out of the fire.

It was a performance that underscored the resilience of Portlaoise, for whom Ashu and Dirienzo combined for a huge 47 points, the former also mopping up a colossal 22 rebounds, while O’Connell added 13 to the scoreboard and Kevin Donohoe won 12 boards, all but one of them on defence.

Every bit of those contributions were needed to see Panthers weather a severe test by Titans who had four players in double digits by the close of proceedings, including Zachary Sawyer on a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Delighted with the grit and determination shown by his players, Portlaoise boss, Kiveney told The Laois Nationalist “We're happy out with the performance, but obviously there's a lot of stuff to work on.

“If we had played the way we did in the second and fourth quarter the whole way through the game, we wouldn't have been in that situation going into the last few seconds.

“But I suppose everything is about learning, everything is about improving, and we know now what we have to work on.

“Titans came out very strong at the start of the game, and very strong at the start of the second half, and we had to pull them back in both times.

“Luckily, the momentum in the last quarter came at the right time, which was fantastic. But a lot of that was down to our game plan and down to our intensity defensively. There was a massive push from everybody. Everybody on the court did their job, and did their job well.

“Rich Ash showed what he's capable of with 26 points and 22 rebounds. That's massive for us, and, to be honest, he wasn't overly happy with his performance at the end, which to me, shows just how much potential he has” he said.

Portlaoise certainly knew they had a challenge on their hands right from the off on Saturday, as their hosts stormed into a six-point lead by the time they had their first score on the board, compliments of O’Connell.

Titans, however, responded with a further five and, by the time the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter, they had opened up a 24-12 advantage, Sawyer striking from both sides of the arc, as he picked up seven.

A treble from Viktor Tashev helped see them push that lead out to 14 early in the second, but Portlaoise managed to gain some traction by way of an eight-point run that included two buckets from Donohoe.

That reduced their arrears to six and it was that very amount that separated them at the half-time break, Ashu draining two late free throws, as Portlaoise trailed 40-34 at the interval.

Ashu and Trevor Swayne both struck in the paint to help halve that deficit early in the third, but Titans regained their poise to lead by eight 66-58 heading into the final period, Zachary again proving a threat from the line and field.

But Panthers were just not going away, an ‘and one’ by Dirienzo helping cut the gap to the very minimum with just over three minutes gone in the fourth, before Dylan Dunne nudged them in front almost midway through that period.

A Matthew Sweeney treble put Titans back in front, but Portlaoise kept on coming, and several free throws from Dirienzo had the game squared at 77 points apiece with 51 seconds remaining – enough time for Umeh and O’Connell to capitalise on crucial turnovers and deliver the scores needed to see their side over the line.

That completed a superb comeback, which leaves Portlaoise on a sound footing ahead of the visit of a Tipp Talons side that includes former Portlaoise guard, Xabi Arriaga among their roster this season.

“Xabi who was with us last year, will know a lot of our players, but we also know how he plays” said Kiveney. “We have to make sure that, defensively, we're ready for it.

“Against Titans, we played free-flowing offence and it worked. At times it didn't. We have to focus on where things went wrong.

“Once that happens, then we can look at improving and becoming more efficient with the ball so we don't have to be winning games in the last 10 seconds.

“We still have three lads coming back from injuries and other issues, so hopefully now we're going to move forward with our game, and start putting a good run together in the league” he said.

TITANS: Viktor Tashev, Luke Herrick, Joseph Coughlan, Eoin Potito, Michael Cunningham Smyth, Zachary Sawyer, Declan Gbinigie, Matthew Sweeney, Nathan Gbinigie.

Top Scorers: Zachary Sawyer (21), Viktor Tashev (11), Declan Gbinigie (11), Nathan Gbinigie (11).

BOWES AUTO CENTRE PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Cillian O’Connell, Dylan Dunne, Tommy Dirienzo, Jayden Umeh, Conor Byrne, Trevor Swayne, Cormac Howson, Rich Ashu, Kevin Donohoe.

Top Scorers: Rich Ashu (26), Tommy Dirienzo (21), Cillian O’Connell (13), Jayden Umeh (8).