Panthers serve up another solid show to see off Maigh Cuilinn

ND AUDIT PORTLAOISE PANTHERS 88 

MAIGH CUILINN 66 

ND AUDIT Portlaoise Panthers head coach, Jack Scully has been encouraged by the form his players are producing in the lead-up to this month’s Domino’s Men’s Division One playoffs, the North Conference table toppers picking up another solid victory against Maigh Cuilinn in St. Mary’s Hall on Saturday night.

While the home side locked down on defence, confining the Galway side’s big hitters, Grant Olsson and Aitor Munoz to a combined 27 points, they saw four of their own hit double digits by the close of proceedings.

Among them was Xabi Arriaga who emerged from this tie with a double double after he chalked up 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Eric Anderson supplied a further 15 to the scoreboard for the hosts.

“With having the top seed locked up, it’s more about performance now than results,” Scully told the  Laois Nationalist.

“We’ve been working on a few things in training over the last couple of weeks in preparation for the playoffs, and it’s really starting to come together, especially on defence.

“I thought, tonight, we were very good defensively, sticking to the defensive principles we’ve been working on over the last couple of weeks. Offensively, all 11 players contributed, so it’s really good to see that spread of scoring,” he added.

The two sides were deadlocked at 11 points apiece with just over seven minutes played, but Portlaoise began to pull away late in the first quarter as Arriaga dropped shots from both sides of the arc, while both James Phelan and Gary Morrissey picked up points from the free-throw line.

It saw them take a 24-15 cushion into the second quarter, at the start of which Kevin Donohoe drained two free throws and a big three-pointer to enlarge the gap to 14.

Maigh Cuilinn did get going again by way of a superb bucket from downtown by Munoz, but Portlaoise responded with five points, Cillian O’Connell also executing off the arc.

The visitors did reduce their arrears to ten midway through the second, but Portlaoise kept humming as Arriaga, Anderson and Aleksandar Kovacevic put up buckets to see their side lead 48-33 at the half-time recess.

A six-point run early in the third only served to tighten their hold on this game, as Anderson and Morrissey combined for a further 13 in that penultimate period to propel Panthers 24 points clear (71-47) heading into the fourth.

Maigh Cuilinn continued to battle away, but there was never any fear of a Portlaoise collapse that would have afforded them a way back into contention.

Liam Moloney did enjoy a strong finish for the visitors, serving up 12 points in the closing period as they edged the fourth by just a bucket.

Superb threes from Davin McEvoy and Kovacevic helped keep the Galway side very much a bay down the stretch as Portlaoise improved their record at the top of the North Conference to 18 and 2.

With Maigh Cuilinn on the brink of securing the final playoff berth up for grabs in the South Conference, they could soon be paying another visit to St. Mary’s Hall for a clash with Portlaoise.

Panthers will wrap up their regular season programme with a double-game weekend that sees them back on the road to face Mater Private Malahide on Saturday before travelling to Phoenix Centre to take on Carrick Cruisers the following day.

“We’ve another weekend of games to come next week, but I really can’t wait for the playoffs in two weeks’ time,” said Scully, who will be hoping to see his players sign off on a positive note before heading into the business end of the campaign.

ND AUDIT PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Cillian O’Connell, Dylan Dunne, James Phelan, Cormac Howson, Eric Anderson, Davin McEvoy, Kevin Donohoe, Gary Morrissey, Xabi Arriaga, Kyle Burke, Aleksandar Kovacevic.

Top Scorers: Xabi Arriaga (21), Eric Anderson (15), James Phelan (11), Davin McEvoy (10).

MAIGH CUILINN: James Loughnane, Antonio Calvente, Grant Olsson, Cian Walsh, Aitor Munoz, Rory O’Sullivan, Donagh McDonagh, Liam Moloney, John Hynes, Dylan Cunningham, Eoin Cleary, Rhys Plower.

Top Scorers: Liam Moloney (17), Grant Olsson (16), Aitor Munoz (11).