Panthers’ win over Maigh Cuilinn not enough to clinch Division One play-off berth

Basketball Ireland Men’s Division 1

ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers 80 

Maigh Cuilinn 73 

ND AUDIT Portlaoise Panthers hit the bar in their bid to scrape into the 2025/26 Domino’s Men’s National League Division One play-off quarter-finals on Saturday night.

While they did as much as they could from their end on the final weekend of the regular season by beating Maigh Cuilinn in St Mary’s Hall, other results did not go their way, as Titans coasted past Tipp Talons 109-70 and Moy Tolka Rovers served up a big third quarter to see off Templeogue 94-78, subsequently shutting the door on Portlaoise in their bid to overtake into a top-eight spot.

It was a heart breaking close to a campaign that had harboured so much promise in the early weeks of the season, as Panthers won their opening seven games to lead the way in the Division One table.

But the loss of key import, Rich Ashu to a season-ending injury in their defeat to Limerick Sport Eagles in the opening round of the National Cup, saw last season’s Division One League and Cup finalists begin to buckle.

And while head coach, Jack Scully did his utmost to steady the ship in affording his talented crop of underage players more court time and bringing in Amiri Stewart, who racked up some big totals down the homestretch, it was not enough to see Panthers make it over the line this year.

Still, they ended their campaign on a positive note in front of home support, battling back from seven points down at the end of the first quarter to see off a tough Maigh Cuilinn outfit.

Again, Stewart served up a big performance with a double of 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Davin McEvoy and Xabi Arriaga combined for a further 36 on the scoreboard, the latter also carding an impressive 14 board wins and eight assists.

That went a long way to seeing their side surmount their Galway rivals who, themselves, had five players in double digits by final buzzer, including Grant Olsson on 21 points.

It was he who opened proceedings with a delightful three just 11 seconds in, to which Portlaoise responded with buckets from Kevin Donohoe and McEvoy.

That set the stage of a tight opening quarter that saw both sides deadlocked at 13 points apiece with just under six minutes played.

Yet Antonio Calvente nudged the visitors ahead again when he struck from beyond the arc before John Hackett added a free throw and late a treble to help see Maigh Cuilinn end that first period with a 22-15 advantage.

Portlaoise stepped up on defence in the second, holding their opponents scoreless for almost three minutes, during which they closed to within one, as Stewart added a further six points to his tally.

Olsson got the visitors moving again when he converted one of his two free throws, but Portlaoise kept on coming as Arriaga chalked up an ‘and one’.

From there, the lead swapped hands a further six times before Portlaoise ended the half with six unanswered points, as both McEvoy and Arriaga carded timely three-point plays to see the hosts head in at the break with a 43-35 lead.

Just as he had at the start of the first half, Olsson opened the second with a big treble to reduce the gap to five, but Donohoe responded in kind for the hosts, who managed to push their lead back out to nine as McEvoy struck from both sides of the three-point line.

Indeed, he combined with Stewart for a 17-point haul in that penultimate period, by the end of which Portlaoise led 63-50.

A Love Omoijade deuce saw that cushion enlarged to 15 points just 13 seconds into the fourth, but Maigh Cuilinn kept on scrapping, hitting the next seven points through Hackett, Ivan Basic and Calvente.

Another seven unanswered points, compliments of Dylan Cunningham and Hackett, left just four points between the sides with 37 seconds left on the clock.

But that was as close as Maigh Cuilinn would go to pulling this game out of the fire, as Portlaoise accounted for the final three points of the contest, all of them coming from Arriaga on the free-throw line.

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

Top Scorers: Amiri Darrell Stewart (22), Davin McEvoy (19), Xabi Arriaga (17), Kevin Donohoe (8), Dylan Dunne (6).

MAIGH CUILINN: James Loughnane, Antonio Molina Calvente, John Hynes, Ivan Basic, Grant Olsson, Rory O’Sullivan, John Hackett, Liam Moloney, Brendan Hardiman, Dylan Cunningham.

Top Scorers: Grant Olsson (21), John Hackett (13), Antonio Molina Calvente (11), Ivan Basic (10), Liam Moloney (10).