Portlaoise bounce back with emphatic win over South Conference rivals Tipp Talons

ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers 103 

Tipp Talons 83 

ND AUDIT Portlaoise Panthers bounced back from two very narrow defeats at the hands of St. Paul’s Killarney and Drogheda Wolves by dishing out a 20-point reversal to Tipp Talons when they welcomed their South Conference rivals to St. Mary’s Hall on Friday night.

Amiri Darrell Stewart demonstrated his proficiency from beyond the arc after he drained no less than seven of his 11 three-point attempts on his way to yet another huge haul of 35 points for the home side, with seven rebounds and six assists to boot.

Davin McEvoy also made a very significant 17-point contribution to the hosts’ cause, while there was a double-double of 12 points and 10 board wins for Xabi Arriaga on the night.

That helped see Portlaoise take three of the four quarters against a Tipp Talons outfit for whom Michael Pierre put up an impressive 29 on the scoreboard with former Panthers player, Aleksandar Kovacevic also carding a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Portlaoise made a blistering start to this contest, Dylan Dunne landing his two opening shots off the three-point line to help propel them 8-0 up before Rian Broderick opened Tipp’s account.

Stewart then followed up with a further two unanswered strikes from downtown, as Jack Scully’s side kept their opponents at arms’ length to open up a 29-20 advantage by the end of the first quarter, Arriaga, McEvoy and Dunne also getting in for some important buckets.

A three-point play by Pierre saw Talons reduce their arrears to six early in the second quarter, but again Portlaoise pushed on with a seven-point run, Stewart converting another effort from range before McEvoy and Kevin Donohoe also put the ball through the string.

The hosts kept the heat up as McEvoy carded an ‘and one’ and Jayden Umeh served up a treble to help enlarge the gap to 16 points (51-35) by the half-time recess, despite Patrick O’Keeffe ending that period with a much-needed three for the visitors.

Tipp struggled to gain any traction in the third quarter, and instead fell further adrift as McEvoy and Justice Iheme combined for 15 points in that penultimate quarter with Arriaga delivering a further six from beyond the three-point line.

Pierre did account for ten in that same period for Talons, but they were still left facing a 21-point deficit (78-57) heading into the fourth.

The visitors did manage to muster up seven points without reply as Kovacevic delivered another long-range strike ahead of buckets from Mirza Beganovic and Pierre.

But by the end of the game, they had recouped only a solitary point, Desmond Ogedegbe putting in a serious late shift with 12 points in the closing eight minutes, including six from off the arc, while Stewart added a further 11 to his tally.

This was just the result, Portlaoise would have been looking for as they make a quick turnaround with a trip to Ballinfoyle Community Centre tomorrow, Sunday to take on another conference rival in Titans BC.

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

Top Scorers: Amiri Darrell Stewart (35), Davin McEvoy (17), Xabi Arriaga (12), Desmond Ogedegbe (12).

TIPP TALONS: Michael Pierre, Aleksandar Kovacevic, Matthew McHale, Rian Broderick, Arthur Geronimo, Alexander Aherne, Mirza Beganovic, Stephen Ryan, Patrick O’Keeffe.

Top Scorers: Michael Pierre (29), Matthew McHale (19), Aleksandar Kovacevic (18), Patrick O’Keeffe (11).